


Songbird

by Brainboxy (Pixichan)



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Love Bites, M/M, Predator/Prey, Vampire Bites, Vampire/Prey AU, Vampires, daehyun highkey has a kink for getting bitten, himchans just getting out of an abusive relationship, youngjae is kinda going through a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-05-24 12:42:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 56,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14954910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixichan/pseuds/Brainboxy
Summary: One fateful night leaves him in the arms of a predator, and despite the risks, he's never felt safer than when they're together. What happens when the predator falls in love with their prey? What happens when the prey dedicates themself to their predator?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> adapted from a drabble i wrote forever ago~

Wrapping his jacket tighter around his torso and fixing the headphones over his beanie, Jung Daehyun left his job as a waiter at precisely 3:05 a.m.. Normally he’d be on the clock until 8 a.m., but their shift’s cook had come down with the stomach flu and the night manager had called it there, before anyone else could get sick.

The January air stung at his skin, dry as a desert and cold as the freezer where they kept their perishables. He kept up a quick pace, each foot in front of the next to the beat of the song thumping through his headphones. His snowboots kept a weak grasp on the icy sheet strangling the sidewalks. Whenever his foot slid he’d slide with it, with practice, to the end where he’d hit the next pile of crushed up bits and catch himself.

He took a wide step around the two homeless people sleeping under an overhang, not wanting to wake them. There was a twenty in his wallet. Sure enough, it found its way into the clasp of one of their bags. Then the music was on again, his steps hit every beat again, and he slid without falling on the ice when he hit it.

It wasn’t that he heard someone running up behind him, but rather felt it under the beats of the song and the feeling of his steps against the ice. She had already crossed the street to avoid passing him when he looked behind him, but he still kept an eye on her as she ran. Her phone was in her hand and her backpack thumped against her back with each bounding step. “Yeah, Mom, I’m just around the corner,” she promised loudly, and he wondered if there was really anyone on the other end of the line.

There was someone not far behind her, a bundled up figure that was following without any speed, but she looked over her shoulder more than once to check on the both of them. When she pulled into the 24-hour convenience store, it was clear she was watching them out the dirty windows to make sure they both passed by. Usually that glass-eyed girl with the topknot worked their night shift behind the bullet proof glass. She’d probably call Suwong’s older sister if the girl was too nervous to make the rest of her walk home. Daehyun breathed easy, and walked passed without a second glance. She’d make it back alright.

The bundled up figure behind them crossed the road to be on his side. Their pace was a bit quicker so they were gaining on him, giving a sort of nervous energy to his steps that made him miss the beat more than once. As they hit a well-lit intersection, they found their place directly behind him. Their pace slowed to match is own, and he found his own thumb running over his empty wallet, ready to fling it at them and run at the first sign of trouble. Step by step, moment by moment, the stranger was never as close as he thought they were when he looked over his shoulder, though he tried not to look often to avoid appearing too suspicious or strange. Three-quarters of the way down the block, they brushed passed him and sped up.

They turned and walked down the side street at the next intersection, and again he breathed easy. He could feel the pulsing blood in his veins. They picked up speed the farther they went, and he watched with curiosity as they disappeared around another corner, such that they were probably walking parallel to one another on different streets. They were probably just eager to get out of the biting cold. He certainly was.

He had almost made it to the next intersection when his luck turned.

The loose grasp his shoes held on the ice was suddenly lost out from under him, and his feet slid forward while the rest of him stayed defiantly behind. He hit the ground with a loud groan, the sort everyone in the immediate vicinity would recognize as that of someone falling, because winter had a way of making everyone its bitch at one point or another. His phone fell from his pocket and slammed onto the ice, and although his music still pounded in his ears he was certain the screen was going to be cracked more than it already had been. Picking it up only confirmed that it was nearly useless with the shattered spiderweb now covering the entire surface. The back of his jeans was wet and gross when he stood, only adding to his ire, but his jacket had save the majority of his back.

His hood had fallen back in the fall and the red plaid scarf he had loosely wrapped around his neck went with it. He scrambled and tripped on the ice again, bruising his knees, when he tried to grab it off the ice. His hand never quite made it.

A hand sprung from the alley and wrapped itself around his hips. Suddenly, he was being pulled back. He thought to scream or bite, but nothing escaped him. He had gone as frozen as the ice under his feet. The road was suddenly much farther than he remembered it being. Whoever had snatched him had seemed to think he weighed nothing and moved him quickly and with ease, so quickly that he barely registered being moved at all. He supposed shock was a hell of a drug when it comes down to it. The brick wall stung at his back when he hit it. Pain shot up his spine. His head cracked against the brick from the momentum and his headphones fell to the ground. The music he had been listening to played softly underneath them. He was frozen, so suddenly and intensely frozen that he could not wiggle his finger if asked to, could not move nor scream nor even think. His hand still sat loosely over his wallet, but he could not get his arm to move, could not bring himself to throw it and try to run. The world had not stopped, but rather continued at hyper speed around him as his heart pounded like the beat of the song.

It was the bundled-up man. One hand remained clamped over Daehyun’s mouth with the thumb pressing up on his jaw. It was such a firm grasp he couldn’t so much as part his lips, much less properly open his mouth. The man’s other hand pulled down his own scarf to expose his face.

Daehyun tried to memorize it. It didn’t seem like the features of the person he’d expect to be his potential murderer, but rather that of someone he might in any other situation attempt to befriend (or perhaps, even, get into bed with): a young man with sharp, large eyes, high cheek bones, puffy cheeks, and pillowy lips. About Daehyun’s height. His hair looked somewhat brown under the dim lighting. His eyes were light. Daehyun tried to memorize this, in case he lived to tell the police about it later.

He seemed rather hesitant, as if he wasn’t happy about what he was about to do. After a long pause, he warned, “if you scream, I’ll kill you. Is that understood?”

Daehyun nodded, more with his eyes than with his head, which was being held so firmly that nodding was painful. His breath came quick and uneven out his nose and his hands finally found their ability to move. He reached up shakily, to offer his wallet. The quicker and easier this was over, the better.

The man took it and put it in his pocket. For a second, Daehyun thought it was over. The man had let go of his face and stepped back. Daehyun had gone so far as to say a silent thank you to the spirits that be, but then his luck escaped him yet again. Maybe he had lost it along with his scarf, still out on the sidewalk by the road.

His robber was much faster than him, and had his wrists held in each hand before Daehyun could register he had reached out for them. If it had been a case of speed versus strength, perhaps Daehyun could have escaped, but the man’s grip was akin to steel, and even with both of his wrists transferred to one hand, the man had no problem holding him still. They slammed up against the wall above his head, and then the hand clamping over his mouth had returned.

The stranger was standing so close.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered with a soft lisp. “I really am. But, I’m just so hungry, and you smell so delicious.”

Daehyun’s eyes went wide.

He writhed, thrashed, and tried to scream as his senses were slowly returned to him; but no matter how much he moved, there seemed to be no struggle in holding him. Rather his captor’s body pressed tighter against Daehyun’s to make it harder for him to move, and beyond that he seemed unphased. Terrified tears sprung up in the corners of his eyes and he screamed as loudly as he could with his mouth held shut.

“It’s just like getting a shot, I promise,” said his captor. “Imagine you’re at the doctor’s office.”

A shot?

An answer came in truly the worst, most awful, most horrendous form to the question Daehyun had not wanted to ask, and of course, it happened to be worse than anything, absolutely anything, he had been expecting or even known to be possible.

The man bared his teeth. They weren’t straight and square like one might expect, but rather they were scraggly, thin, plentiful little things, each of which wound around its neighbors randomly and came up to a sharp point. They glinted in an odd way from the small amount of light streaming into the alley and Daehyun whimpered and tried to shrink into the wall in blubbering terror as the monster neared him.

“I won’t kill you.” It was strange, how much time was being spent in reassuring him, and Daehyun would admit the words helped. He was sure they were a lie, but somehow they still helped. “I’m not going to kill you,” he promised again, as if he could tell the slight drop it caused in Daehyun’s speeding pulse.

Daehyun closed his teary eyes as those sharp teeth got closer to him and tried to breathe easier as he felt the warm breaths puffing against his neck.

Then came the beat. The song had finished, the next one had yet to start, and his captor had paused, almost as if he was unsure of what he was doing, or perhaps if Daehyun was lucky, coming to the realization that maybe he didn’t want to eat Daehyun.

He shouldn’t have expected to have any luck at all.

Pulling back for just a moment, the man looked him in the eyes before pulling his wrists down from the wall. He held them out between them and then spared a brief glance at Daehyun before dropping one. He didn’t seem confident in letting Daehyun’s mouth go again and rather opted to fumble one-handedly with the sleeve of his jacket.

Daehyun had stopped screaming. He still thrashed around, but less so as it felt more and more pathetic in its fruitlessness. The only real resistance he had left was in his free hand which tried desperately to pry his wrist away as it was raised up to his captor’s mouth.

“Would you rather have a bloody bite mark on your neck instead?” He asked.

Daehyun’s hand dropped. It was still for another moment. Teeth flashed. Daehyun whimpered as they neared his wrist. He flinched away. His eyes were shut tight. The bite never came. Rather, after what felt like hours but was rather about a minute and a half, with the next song pulsing through his headphones below them, Daehyun cracked open one eye to find whatever scary monster captured him just standing there, head facing down, mouth still near his wrist but teeth no longer bared.

The way he was standing, it was impossible to see his expression. His hands had started to shake by the time he straightened his posture. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “just go.” He let go.

Daehyun hesitated for just a second, just one incredibly confused and unsteady second, and then he ran. His headphones dragged on the ground after him until the snagged on the corner and the jack ripped out of his phone, ending the song abruptly at its bridge. His snow boots kept a weak footing on the ice. Random patches of black ice drove them out from under him, and but the time he had reached his apartment complex had had fallen at least eight times.

He was sure if he was panting or hyperventilating as he ran into the front entrance. The elevator was still out, so he found himself running up the seven flights of stairs to his apartment. Each breath felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. His heart was trying to escape out of his throat. His face had frozen from the wind-chilled tears.

It took a solid two minutes of shaky-hand fumbling to get his key into the lock, leaving trails of scratches around the keyhole on the door. He threw himself through it and slammed it behind him. The chain and padlock were a bit sticky from the lack of use, but the normal door lock didn’t seem like enough. The lights flickered on, dim and unstable.

Shoes that were not his own greeted him in the doorway. There were about four pairs of them, all neatly in a row in the entrance before the step. He paused to tuck them into the shoe closet. A large suitcase laid down on its side next to the couch with a duffle bag propped up on top. There was another suitcase and a backpack behind the couch. The dishes on the coffee table had been cleared and replaced with a laptop. Soft snores carried through the room.

 _Himchan_  

Sure enough, Daehyun found him curled up on the couch, Daehyun’s teddy bear held tight against his torso. One of his eyes was a purpling red and swollen shut, and the bags underneath were black, not as if he hadn’t slept but rather the most alarming sort of bruise. His arms weren’t much better off, with a marks that had to be burns rather than bruises and a couple more stitches than he remembered him having the last time they met. One was wrapped up in a light blue cast.

Daehyun walked passed him into the small bathroom to rinse off his face in warm water. His hands were still shaking and he held them up over the sink to watch the tremors running through them as if he were four or five times his age. His breath was still fast and his eyes still red.

On the floor, with his head between his knees, he counted to three while he breathed in, three again while he held his breath, and three again while he breathed out. The next round was four, then five, then six, and on until he could breathe in for ten seconds, hold his breath for ten more, and breathe out for ten just as well. It was about three minutes of that ten-second-each-cycle before he was sure his heart rate had returned to normal and his breathing evened out.

The world was hazy when he stood, and his hands in front of him were not quite real but not quite fake either. He inspected his wrist for any cuts but found none, and then the same with his neck in the mirror. Over and over he checked and checked as if expecting the situation to change until eventually he stopped, put his head down in his hands, and did his breathing ritual again, this time, calmer, starting at seven seconds each and working himself back up to ten, which he carried on for about five minutes more. With one deep breath, he lifted his head from his hands. After the next, he started the warm water from the sink and rinsed off his face again.

He held his hands flat over the sink again and found the tremors had dropped to a less alarming level.

Another deep breath and he was back out the door to the living room. He went to peel back to covers on his bed before standing properly in front of Himchan and trying to figure out how to pick him up. It took maneuvering, sure, but luckily he was a heavy sleeper and Daehyun was a patient and determined sort of guy. Once he had managed to roll Himchan into the sort of position where he could get his arms underneath, he picked him up and carried him back through the door to his bed. The doorway posed an issue, but time got them through. Putting him down was also entirely less graceful than Daehyun would have hoped, but Himchan still ended up on the bed just fine. He pulled the thick covers over him and brushed his hair with his fingers for a couple moments as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“It’s over for good this time,” Himchan mumbled. It wasn’t clear if he was talking in his sleep or actually telling Daehyun what he felt, but either way Daehyun responded.

“I really hope it is, Channie. You deserve better,” he whispered as he continued playing with Himchan’s hair, trying to help him settle easier after having been moved. “You’re welcome here as long as you need, okay? My place is your place, and my door is always open.”

Himchan let out a soft and appreciative hum in response, and their conversation ended there. Daehyun stayed for longer, just carding his fingers through Himchan’s hair, lost in thought.

Something came through the mail slot.

It was 3:47 in the morning and something had just come through the slot in his door reserved for letters, despite the fact that no sane, reasonable mailman would think that was even vaguely acceptable at all. And then came another thump, something heavier and made of plastic. Then a third, softer and muffled like cloth.

His breath was gone as he walked out of the bedroom, and his hands started shaking when he saw what was waiting in the entrance for him.

His scarf.

He walked forward as quietly as he could, breath held, and lifted it up with an outstretched arm and two fingers as if he thought it might spring up and try to bite him. Underneath were his headphones and wallet.

The weight of the world pushed down on him as he forced himself to stand up and look through the peephole on the door. The hall was empty. He gulped at the air he had lost and picked up his things from the floor. The ice had clearly been cleaned off of them, and his wallet didn’t seem as empty as it should be, given that the only thing in it when he had thrown it was a maxed out credit card and his ID.

Opening it, he found the ID was facing the opposite way of how he normally had it, as if it had been taken out and put back in. He took it out himself, only to remember his address was written on the back and that it had probably just been looked at to find that information. Or at least, he hoped. He really liked to imagine the monster had left all of his things in a pile, and some kind samaritan had found them and set out to shove them through his mail slot at nearly 4 a.m.. Besides his flipped ID, there was one other thing out of place. His complete lack of cash had been replaced with a small pile of bills.

A small pile of relatively large bills.

A pile of about $500.

He stared blankly at the money in his hands, unsure of how to react. His hands shook as he stared at the bills in his hands, and he counted it again and again as if the total would somehow change. Again and again it came out as exactly $500 and again and again he believed he counted wrong and counted again.

The ID was his. The credit card was in his name. It was his wallet. Why did it have $500 in it? He didn’t have that sort of money. He never had that sort of money. Where would that money have even come from? Why would someone give him $500?

He didn’t know.

He put the money back in his wallet and then absentmindedly put the wallet back on the ground and recovered with his scarf. Morning-Daehyun could figure out how to react to that situation, he had had enough for the night.

Grabbing the spare duvet he used whenever the heating broke and he needed the extra warmth and the neck pillow he had bought for his train trips back to his hometown, he settled himself on the couch, coat still on and all, closed his eyes, and begged for sleep.

All he could see were scraggly, thin, sharp teeth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos and a comment!~~~ It really makes my day^^

“I’m telling you, Seunghyun, I don’t know anything about where he is, okay? Just like I told you last week, he hasn’t texted me in two months,” Daehyun lied. He had his head on Jongup’s lap as he stared at the peeling ceiling. “I can read the last message he sent me if that’s what you want.” The phone was laying on Jongup’s knee, by Daehyun’s head, somewhat precarious and just a nudge from falling to the floor. 

“That would help,” replied Seunghyun, grainy from being on speaker phone. “Please, I’m just so worried about him. You know how he gets. What if he hurt himself?” He almost sounded convincing. 

“Don’t you think we would have heard about it if he was hurt?” Daehyun replied. He turned his head slightly and the phone started to fall. Jongup grabbed it quickly and balanced it on Daehyun’s forehead with a grin.

“What if someone kidnapped him, Daehyun? Or if he’s dead? Please, just tell me what he said so I know where to look.”

Daehyun lifted the phone away from his face with a sigh, tapping at his phone case to make the sounds of messing with the front screen. He didn’t look for any old messages, not even unlocking the front screen, and said, “Okay it’s literally from two month and like, three days ago or something, and it just says, ‘well, if he won’t let me go, I’ll just go without telling him’. I texted back a bunch of question marks and he left me on read. Then, the next day, I texted him again asking what was up literally the moment you told me he was missing and he hasn’t even read that one.”

He could hear thumping sound, probably Seunghyun’s fist slamming into the wall, echoing through the phone. Both he and Jongup flinched away from it. “Sorry, I dropped something. Give me a sec’,” Seunghyun lied. He always sounded so friendly when he lied. The tap started up. Static flooded the line. He was probably washing the blood off his hand. “You sure that’s it?”

Daehyun put the phone back on his forehead and closed his eyes. “Positive. Listen, Himchan’s my best friend, okay? I want him back as much as you do. But, you know, this time it doesn’t feel like he’s hurt or anything. We would have heard from him if that happened. He wouldn’t just disappear for two months, not unless he wanted to. Maybe you two got into a fight, I’m not going to accuse you or anything, but we’ve literally had this exact same conversation about eighty times at this point. He left. He ‘Gone Girl’d us without the murder bits. The only guess I have at this point is that he was talking about Fashion Week and that he’s been staying with his sister in New York.”

“They denied his visa request,” countered Seunghyun.

“That doesn’t mean he can’t visit,” replied Daehyun. “Aren’t you allowed to just, like, go for a couple months? Like three or something? He’d still have a month left.”

“Why are you being so unhelpful?” Seunghyun demanded. Daehyun flinched and the phone slid from his forehead to rest between his head and Jongup’s stomach. He took two deep breaths, unfortunately giving Seunghyun more time. “It’s like you don’t want to find him! What kind of friend are you? If he’s dead, it’ll be your fault.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to find him, I just don’t think he wants to be found,” replied Daehyun. “Listen, he’ll come back when he’s re—”

The door opened and Himchan stepped through with grocery bags in hand. Daehyun pointed to the phone, but it was clear from Himchan’s grimace that Jongup had already texted him about the conversation being had.

“What was that? Was it him?” Seunghyun demanded over the phone.

“It’s Jongup,” Daehyun lied. “Hey, one second. Seunghyun and I are reviewing Himchan’s sudden disappearance again.” He said to no one at all. Himchan had dropped the grocery bags inside and then stepped out again while Daehyun set up his ruse.

“I can’t believe you still talk to that asshat. Give me the phone,” Jongup said from above him.

“Wait, no—” Daehyun said while not moving and not opening his eyes as Jongup picked up the phone and flicked it off speaker quickly. He held it up to his own ear while Daehyun got up and went to put the groceries away.

“Stop calling my boyfriend. You’re trash and Himchan’s definitely left you for good. Move on.” He hung up and tossed Daehyun’s phone to the other side of the couch. “Okay, the monster is gone; we are in the clear for at least another week,” he announced. 

“I thought we were done fake-dating now that Himchan’s done with him. Haven’t we fake-broken up yet?” Daehyun asked as he went for the fridge.

“He’s still not going to be comfortable with you being around Himchan as long as you are gay and single. It’s better to keep pretending until he gets over it and leaves our lives for good, just in case,” replied Jongup. “Think about it, you’re literally the only male friend he let Himchan have. It’s better safe than sor— are you okay?”

Daehyun was frozen with his head half in the freezer. He shivered, and then pulled back. “Fine. Could I get you to put the frozen stuff away? I’ll be back in a second.” Without waiting for Jongup to answer, he ran off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

His eyes looked bruised from the lack of sleep. Blinking, he found they were a little red, or perhaps it was his imagination? He rubbed at them for half a minute to clear up his vision, only to come out certain they were bloodshot. When had he gotten so pale? He pulled up his upper lip with his fingers to check his teeth. Did they look sharper? He bit his tongue that morning and it had hurt a lot. He ran his finger over the top of them to check how sharp there were and to check to make sure the number was the same. Did he miscount? What if he just felt over the blunted areas and other parts were sharp? He checked again.

And again.

And again.

He had heard Himchan and Jongup make two full trips to the car and back before one of them came to knock on the bathroom door. “You okay, Daehyun?” Himchan asked.

“Yeah, I’ll just be a minute.” Daehyun’s voice was a bit high and unsteady.

“How many times have you washed your hands?” Himchan asked in a more gentle tone. He tried the door and found it was locked. “Dae, I promise, your hands are clean, okay? It’s enough. Why don’t you sit down for a bit and practice your breaths? Uppie and I will be out here when you’re done, so take your time.”

Daehyun shut his mouth, resigned to not open it again. He checked his neck then, and then his wrist, to see if either was bleeding. Neither were.

But what if he hadn’t checked well enough?

He ran his fingers over his neck and pulled at the skin in the mirror until it was red. He had drawn blood before and the wound started to reopen by the time he finally felt as though he had checked well enough. Next came his wrist. He stared at it from every angle and pulled at the skin when he felt he had missed some part. He’d let it down to rest by his side, resigned that all was well and that he should go back outside, only to be hit with a sudden pain in his chest, a pounding heart and speeding breaths, and then he’d be back to pulling, staring, checking, feeling his teeth, and counting.

His heart was pounding in his ears. He held his hands up flat in front of him and found they were shaking. He was shaking. Everything was shaking.

Getting himself to sit on the bathroom floor was a gesture more robotic than intended. He pulled his knees up slowly, then buried his face in them. He started at breaths of four seconds— four seconds in, four seconds held, and four seconds out— and worked himself up to ten bit by bit. His heart was still pounding when he managed to lift his head up from his knees. Standing came as a great effort, and with controlled breaths he unlocked the bathroom door and went back out into the main room of his apartment.

Himchan and Jongup were both sitting on the couch, quietly whispering over Himchan’s phone about someone’s instagram. Daehyun pushed the phone into Jongup’s hand so he could sit on Himchan’s lap and curl up against him. Himchan’s arms wrapped tightly around his middle and Jongup pressed a hand into Daehyun’s thigh.

He knew it was hard for them to figure out what words should come next. It was a long moment where their conversation had stopped but neither had started a new one. “You’re shaking,” whispered Himchan eventually. “Did you—” He cut himself off. There was a beat of silence.

“I didn’t make myself bleed,” answered Daehyun.

“I’m proud of you,” replied Himchan. “I— Dae, you know I really appreciate you keeping…  _ him _ off my trail and all but…”

“Ghost him.” Jongup finished the statement.

Himchan agreed, “Yeah, basically. It’s enough. Like I really, really appreciate it: there was no way he would have missed me for this long without you and it was enough to— I’m really out now, for good. I don’t even miss him. It’s… It isn’t worth your mental health, okay? There’s been a lot going on lately, just cut him out. I don’t want to be the reason you get bad again.”

“I’ll be okay,” Daehyun mumbled back.

“Listen, he’s a scary guy,” Jongup cut in. “Even if you think you’re fine, dealing with him this often is a lot. Just block his number and we’ll all be done with him. He’ll probably think I made you do it because I’ve been such an ass to him.” He squeezed Daehyun’s thigh.

Daehyun turned his head and his his face in Himchan’s shoulder. He started at seven instead of four, but it took just as long for him to make it back up to ten. “Fine,” he mumbled into Himchan’s shoulder. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.” 

“I’m sorry for ever asking you to do that,” mumbled Himchan.

“I offered,” replied Daehyun. 

They hung around on the couch for most of the rest of the day, until it was time for Jongup to go back to his own apartment and then, soon after, time for Daehyun to go to work. It was late when he finally headed out towards the diner. The March air was still cold enough that he wasn’t questioned for wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck, nor for how he bundled himself up as much as physically possible.

Under all the layers, he was sweating, but he forged on. The ice on the streets had long since melted into muddy, slushy puddles that probably only had a week or so’s life left on them, and the squelched under his snow boots as he trudged out into the cold night. He kept his hands shoved deep into his pockets, but looked around him as he walked. His headphones sat on top of the scarf around his neck, but with shaking hands and a nervous bounce to his step, they were kept unplugged like props.

He looked down the alleyways with fear as he went, not passing any of them until he had looked down to make sure it was empty. About three blocks from his house, he jumped at a large pile of trash bags sitting midway down the alley and pressed his hand into his heart. He took a deep breath and convinced himself to keep walking.

A soft, pained groan emanated from behind him.

He stopped just passed the mouth of the alley, and then backtracked until he could peer down the length of it. Far off, in the exact middle between the two streets, was a figure curled up under a mass of black, not trash bags as he had first thought.

Walking down the alley with shaky hands, he found the pile was a bunch of jackets. The man was resting his head on top of them. His hair was almost the same color, making it hard to see.

“Sir, are you okay?” Daehyun asked politely. He crouched down to a squat as he spoke.

He lifted his head and Daehyun fell back against the pavement. He scrambled away. His hands scraped against the rough pebbles. Soon enough, his back had hit the wall. It was not a man but a monster. The monster.

Yet, his face was shallow and pale, with deep circles under his eyes, receding cheeks, lips that lacked any color, and eyes that lacked any shine or sheen. His hair was dirty and limp. It would have been supremely dull if not for all the unwashed grease. His mouth hung open and his dull, red-rimmed, irritated eyes squinted. There was a large smudge of dirt and gravelly bits across one of his cheeks. He, too, was shaking. He, too, seemed unsteady. It seemed hard for him to keep his head up. 

“Leave me alone,” said the man. His voice was weak and barely there. It pitched high at random and came out breathy when not. He dropped his head back onto the jacket pile and closed his eyes.

“Do you recognize me?” Daehyun asked.

It took a minute for the man to raise his head and squint at him again, but then he was swaying and his head was back down on the jackets. He was gagging. “No. Let me guess, you’re a hunter. Listen, I’m sorry if your friends are in jail, but I’m already going to die. Can you just let me go peacefully?”

Daehyun hesitated, but then came closer. The man whined and shrunk away from him. “I’m not a hunter or whatever. Or, I don’t think I am. I— You grabbed me one night about two months ago. You were going to eat me and then… you just kind of didn’t, and then I ran away.” Daehyun explained. “Later all the stuff I dropped showed up at my apartment, and my wallet had money in it that wasn’t mine.”

The man tried to lift his head again, but collapsed down onto the jacket pile, fully so until he was lying on the pavement. He gave up. “I’m sorry.”

Daehyun’s fingers drummed against the pavement. The monster that haunted him for so long was dissolving quickly in favor of a boy that couldn’t even open his eyes. “Are you—” the word ‘okay’ got choked out by the man’s small groan of dissent. He tried a different question. “Why did you let me go?”

“I’ve never had to bite someone who wasn’t consenting before. I didn’t like it,” murmured the man. He seemed quieter, more withdrawn. His arms had wrapped around his middle. He was shivering.

“Do people… just let you…?” 

The man groaned and weakly shoved an arm under his head as a makeshift pillow. “We had our people and they didn’t mind. It’s not like it would kill them. It’s not that much at one time. They… usually offered before I was hungry enough to ask, even….”

Daehyun was hesitant, but he still scooted forward and layered the jackets over the man. He barely seemed to notice. “Have you… since then… you know…?”

“No,” answered the man. “You were the only one I even grabbed.” He hadn’t opened his eyes in a while. It sounded like he was falling asleep. His words started to slur together as he murmured to himself. “Too risky. I thought you’d tell them where I was.”

“Can… are you… can people like you… why are you out here in the alley? You seem cold. Can’t you stay in a hotel? I’ll pay for one, if you don’t have any money,” he offered. The only money he had was the $500 he had been given those two months ago. It was in an envelope untouched in his pocket. 

The man shook his head as much as he could, and then gagged again. It took a minute for him to grow steady enough to speak. “Tried that. They always found me.”

“They?” Daehyun asked.

“Hunters,” mumbled the man. “I’m not strong enough to fight them off anymore.”

Daehyun pulled one of the smaller jackets off the pile, balled it up so the furry lining on the inside was facing out and scooted towards the man’s head. “Hunters? As in… normal hunters? Bounty hunters? Monster hunters?” While he was speaking, he tried to get the man to lift his head up.

He was gagging again. “Take a guess.” He finally relented to let Daehyun lift up his head and slip the makeshift pillow underneath.

“Would they kill you?” Daehyun asked. “You said… you haven’t hurt anyone, right? You only bit people who told you it was okay to bite them… Why would they do anything to you?” He bit his lip. The man was still gagging, so Daehyun scooted away from him and pulled his knees to his chest. He sniffed himself, but didn’t find anything particularly rank.

The man started to relax some once Daehyun was farther away. “‘Cause I exist.” He didn’t say anything more.

“And... you’re not ‘strong enough’ to fight them because you haven’t... eaten in a very long time, right?” Daehyun finally wagered his guess. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re starving. Can you starve like humans do?”

“We last a bit longer than you, but yeah.”

“How long can you go without… eating?” It felt uncomfortable. He shifted even farther away. It put them at an odd distance. 

“Most vampires die after about a year. Some can make it up to two, but that’s not very common. For children or elders, I think it’s shorter.” The man mumbled back. The information was rote knowledge, said without hesitation or pause. 

“How long have you gone?” He found himself asking, in the face of those shallow, pale cheeks and the deep bags under the shaking boy’s eyes.

“It’s been nearly eleven months, I think. I haven’t checked the day in a while.” The man almost seemed pleased with that information. His lips had turned up into a small, weak smile at the ends. He settled more comfortably onto the jacket pillow, as if he intended to fall asleep.

Without thought, Daehyun launched himself forward. The man gagged as Daehyun’s wrist found its way under his nose. “Bite me,” he requested.

The man gagged and fumbled around to push his wrist away. He was weaker than Daehyun remembered. “No. Stop,” the man demanded. “Stop it. Go away.” It was the pained gagging, the clear way in which he looked like he was about to throw up, that made Daehyun retract temporarily.

“Why do you keep gagging? Before you said I smelled good. Am I sick or something? Is something wrong with me?” He started rubbing his hands together until they started to turn red and irritated, then pulled the near empty hand sanitizer out and covered them in it. The smell of rubbing alcohol flooded the alley as he started to work the globs of it in. 

“Have you ever been so hungry that the smell of food makes you feel sick?” The man countered.

“What?”

“Imagine you’ve been starving for over a week and someone handed you a giant, delicious chocolate cake. It sounds delicious, right? But if you eat it, you’re going to throw up. Once you’re hungry enough, even the smell of something sweet can make you gag,” the man’s voice was growing fainter the longer he talked, and he was interrupted by loud, ugly gagging noises as he fought back vomit.

“So I’m okay?” Daehyun asked. “Okay. Okay. I’m okay. Then why won’t you bite me? Just do it.” He reached out his wrist again. The two struggled as the man tried to push Daehyun’s wrist away and Daehyun tried to push it towards him.

“Why are you trying to get me to drink you? What’s going on?” The man grumbled through their struggle.

Daehyun froze somewhat, using enough of his strength to keep his wrist in place about a foot about the man’s head, but not enough to push down. “You’re dying. You’re going to starve to death in a month,” he said it flatly, as if that was all of the explanation needed.

“So?”

“Isn’t it… isn’t it morally wrong… for me to let you die?”

“I’m a monster,” said the man. There was no guilt nor shame in the statement. It sounded to just be a calm statement of fact— water is wet, the sky is blue, and he was a monster.

Daehyun bit his lip, and pulled back. “So?” He parroted.

The man let out a deep sigh and settled back into the jacket pile as his whole body shook more than it had been before. “Just let me die.”

Daehyun thinned his lips. “I don’t… want to…. That doesn’t seem right to me. But, I don’t… really know what to do to save you, either.” He murmured. He hugged onto his knees tightly, his still-soaked-in-hand-sanitizer hands balls up into slippery fists. “What can I do?”

“Leave me alone,” demanded the man. “We don’t even know each other. Don’t waste your energy on strangers— just go.”

Daehyun still hesitated. After a long moment, he pulled out his receipt from a coffee place and a pen he kept forgetting to take out of his jacket pocket and scribbled out his address, along with a poorly drawn but rather easy to understand map. “Here, that’s my address. If you change your mind, just come find me, okay? I’ll figure something out.” 

“Just go away,” the man replied. 

Daehyun sighed and stuck the note into one of the jacket’s pockets, then stood up. “I hope you feel better,” he said awkwardly, “and I really hope you don’t… yeah.” He gulped, awkwardly, unsure what he was trying to say, and then backed out of the alley.

His heart was pounding in his ears as he pulled the cracked cell phone out from his pocket. He had put tape over the surface to keep himself from slicing open his fingers, but otherwise it was still broken and cracked. His vision was a little bleary and his hands were shaking as he unlocked his phone. He must have looked drunk from the way he was stumbling as he struggled to bring up his calls and contact Himchan.

“Hello?” His calm voice over the speaker helped Daehyun relax a little.

“Himchan… I have a weird question. If… say there was a murderer… someone who you have reason to believe doesn’t want to murder people but has to for some other reason, and… and say they’ve only ever murdered people who wanted to die… like people with terminal illnesses who didn’t want to suffer… and you were put in a situation where you could… save the murderer’s life or let them die… what would you…” Daehyun rubbed at the back of his head with frustration as he rambled.

“Daehyun, what are you asking? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Himchan asked.

Daehyun bit his lip before trying a different approach. “Ok, um, well what if… let’s say there’s a vampire. There’s a vampire who only drinks from people who consent to be drank from, and they never kill anyone they drink from, either. And that vampire is starving to death… would it be morally wrong to let them die when I could agree to give them enough blood, once, that they would survive?”

Himchan sighed. “Dae, it’s not your job to save everyone, okay? I’m not exactly sure what this metaphor is alluding to, but still, you aren’t required to save anyone. You shouldn’t feel like you have to risk your health, mental or physical, just for someone else. Whatever is going on, do what’s best for you, okay? Not anyone else.”

“I feel like I failed,” mumbled Daehyun.

“I’m sure you did as much as you can do, Hyun,” promised Himchan. “Just get to work and try not to think about it, okay? I’m here if you want to talk about it later.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comments are SUPER appreciated ^^ as always constructive criticism is welcome~~~~

The sudden, pounding knock on his door at eight in the morning had Daehyun jumping out of his skin and falling off the couch. His heart had risen up to his ears and started to bang around with an unsteady rhythm as he forced himself to sit up and rubbed at the back of his head.

Himchan was still snoring in the bedroom, even as the pounding knock came a second time.

He was unsteady on his feet and bleary-eyed. The world shook with him in his tired state. He had hit the leg of the coffee table with his head on his way down, leaving part of the wood splintered around on the already unswept ground. He rubbed at where it stung as he stumbled to the door. He took a long moment, forehead against the door, to take deep breaths and prepare himself. “Seunghyun, for the last time, he isn’t here,” he said firmly. “It’s been three months, just move on and leave me alone.”

There was no one waiting when he looked through the peephole. His eyebrows furrowed, and he dug into the nearby cabinet to find the heaviest umbrella they had. He swung with it three times, uncertain, before stopping to watch the small tremors in his hands.

Daehyun opened the door slowly, chain still on and umbrella in hand, but it wasn’t Seunghyun waiting on the other side. 

There, slumped on the floor outside his door with his head lolling off to the side was a skeleton of a man with a red, prickling rash starting to creep up his face from below his collar. The skin was raised, red, peeling, and bumpy. Parts of his pale skin were instead just flaky and peeling, while other parts looked like he had been burned, especially his hands. They were red and beginning to blister. His eyes were shut and the dark circles Daehyun had first spotted the month before had worsened. His skin was nearly white. His breaths came uneven and forced, as if he was living off sheer power of will and nothing else.

The man couldn’t hold himself up, and tremors were running through him as he laid there on the floor like he was already a corpse. It looked more like he had fallen, or perhaps crawled, than that he had knocked on the door only to lay down afterwards. He had an umbrella laying nearby, probably what he had used to knock on the door given that he struggled to move. 

“Oh, it’s you,” Daehyun breathed. “One second, just one second,” he assured.

Daehyun shut the door quickly to undo the chain and then threw it open again. He fell and slid on his knees into the hallway to get in front of the dying man and meet his eye. The man looked almost relieved to see his face. His heavy eyelids dropped closed again not long after with a soft, whiny groan. The way his chest rose and fell made it seem as though he was struggling to breath.

“You changed your mind?” Daehyun asked quickly.  

The man offered a singular nod, the sort that took all his energy to raise his head up, and then he struggled to pull it back down. Carefully, in a sort of pathetic and weak way, the man tried to pull himself to sit up. He started to sway from the momentum and Daehyun reached out to him only to pull back, unsure. He collapsed back down onto the ground with a low whimper. He didn’t try to move again.

The man, or rather he seemed a lot more like a boy in those moments— those terrified moments in which he looked up with his hanging head and wide eyes at Daehyun with his brow just barely lifted and tears hanging around the corners of his eyes— seemed barely there at all. He was trying to say something. “Pl—” was all that came out.

Daehyun shushed him, “it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m going to pick you up, okay? We shouldn’t do this in the hallway.”

“I want…th…” the man begged in slow, labored, and slurred speech, “... not for… death….” He sobbed out desperate cries which wracked his whole trembling form with a new breed of earthquake. He gasped out and scrunched his eyes shut as his cheeks became wet with tears.

Daehyun’s brow knit together and he spoke softly as he reached forward. “You’re going to be okay,” he promised in a sweet, cooing voice. He scooted himself forward and tried to feign ignorance of the tremors plaguing his own hands as he reached for the boy and helped pull him upright. He kept one hand under his head, holding it up as if he were a newborn and needed the support to keep his neck from snapping. Looping the boy’s arms around his shoulders and helping him press his face to his neck, Daehyun was careful about picking him up. “You’re going to be okay. Go on. It’s okay.” Daehyun stood on unsteady legs, but found his earlier dizziness had already faded as he made the short journey across the hall and brought them through the door to his apartment, then locked it behind them.

He could feel something shift in the man’s mouth. It felt like something was pushing its way out in front of his teeth— something more scraggly and uneven that pressed into the skin of his neck with a bumpy sort of pressure. Daehyun shivered.

There was a slow moment of hesitation while he stood there, the vampire coddled in his arms in the entrance to his apartment. He stared blankly off at the door to the bedroom, and pressed the boy’s head closer to his neck as he exhaled.

The boy’s dry, cracked lips parted slowly against Daehyun’s skin, and those sharp teeth gently scraped against his skin, but for whatever reason they did not bite into him quite yet. They stayed there, with his lips parted against Daehyun’s neck and his warm, faint breaths ghosting over the skin there for a long minute. His teeth scraped over the skin of Daehyun’s neck twice more before he spoke again. “It’s okay,” promised Daehyun in his honey-flavored tone. “If… if it’s to save your life, I don’t mind if you drink from me. I’m consenting to this.”

The man’s lips parted further against his neck, pulling back until the sharp points of his teeth were the only contact he had with the skin there. Still there was a moment, a brief pause given to him, as if he was being offered time to back out before he was bitten. Daehyun stayed quiet and waited. 

Sharp teeth dug into his neck. Daehyun bit into his lip, worrying it between his teeth to keep the pained whimper hidden. Still, a small whine found its way out of him, which he quickly tried to hide by speaking. “There you go,” he said in the same voice he would use to speak to a crying child. There was a small lilt to it, a careful tune and a softer tone, and a higher pitch than his normal speaking voice. “Don’t drink too much or you’ll make yourself sick.” He had stopped in the entrance of his apartment the entire time. His hands shook as he held up the man, but he didn’t move to set him down.

He could feel the teeth inside his neck, each individually and the lot of them as a whole piercing into his skin. It was strange, like the pain of a new piercing, just all over the entire juncture of his neck and shoulder. He couldn’t move his arm or head without feeling them there.

The man stopped after only a couple seconds, let go of Daehyun’s neck with his teeth, and licked over the wound. The skin prickled and stiffened in an odd way under his tongue, the sort of weird feeling that make Daehyun feel like it served some sort of purpose rather than being a weird, hungry gesture from someone who had just narrowly escaped starving to death. Once he had fully pulled away, and rested his head on Daehyun’s shoulder with the same lack of energy Daehyun had seen in him before, his whole body began to quake and shake in Daehyun’s arms. From the quaking came an intense dry heaving and he turned his head away from his chest and shoulder, instead letting it roll off limply in the open air, as he gagged and heaved.

Daehyun quickly rushed to the couch and set him down. He helped him roll onto his side. There were clear tremors running through him as he laid there heaving with tears coming from the corners of his eyes as he fought back the urge to vomit up the only food he had had in a year. Daehyun rushed off to the bathroom and grabbed the small wastebasket he kept in there (mostly out of habit from back when he had female roommates), and brought it back out. He placed it under the man’s head and mumbled something about how it was there in case he needed it.

With nothing else to do and nowhere to sleep, Daehyun propped himself up on the armrest of the couch, eyes closed with tiredness, and felt the man’s pulse in hopes it would stabilize under his watch. When his hands started shaking, he pulled back and brushed the man’s dirty hair away from his face instead, like he had for Himchan when he had found him in his apartment three months prior.

It took nearly ten minutes for the man to stop gagging, and another fifteen for the tremors wracking him to lessen to the point that Daehyun stopped trying to calm him by playing with his hair. His eyes were closed. “Thanks,” he mumbled with long pauses stuck between his words, “I’ll go soon.”

“You don’t have to,” replied Daehyun. With trembling, slow hands, he pressed his index and middle finger into the boy’s neck again. There was a heartbeat there, slow and struggling to keep beat. “Am… Am I going to turn into a… am I… going to become… like you?”

“No,” the boy murmured back. He opened his mouth to say more but the words didn’t find their way. “I’ll go soon,” he repeated. 

“You really don’t have to. You’ll probably need to eat a couple more times to get better, right? You can stay here until then,” promised Daehyun. “My name is Daehyun. Whenever you think you can handle a little more, just tell me. Preferably not in a way my roommate will understand.”

“Thanks, Dae’yun,” the boy slurred in a sleepy tone.

“If you need anything, let me know,” Daehyun repeated. He didn’t move from where he was propped up on the armrest until the boy had started to snore. From there, he pulled the fuzzy, blue couch blanket he had been using over him, and pushed back his hair one last time before he went to the bathroom.

The dim lights took a moment to flicker on and Daehyun dug out a bandage and the disinfectant while he waited. In the mirror, however, the was no traces of blood on his neck. No scabbing had even taken hold where he remembered the teeth had dug into him. He opened the door and peered out to find the vampire was indeed there, asleep on his couch, but returning to the mirror still showed a lack of any signs of the bite. He looked closer and closer, until he was pressed up against the cool glass, and only then did he find what he was looking for— thin, small pink lines that rose just barely from his skin, like a scar that had been healing for weeks rather than a fresh wound. He ran his trembling fingers over it, his eyes wide and panicked.

Daehyun stepped away from the mirror suddenly, stepped out of the bathroom, and went to fall asleep in the bed next to Himchan. His breathing was fast. He took a couple minutes to count his breaths, following the same in-hold-out ritual he always did by starting at seven seconds and working himself up to ten.

To his surprise, Himchan rolled over when he was done and threw a sleepy arm over his middle. “Who was at the door?” He murmured.

Daehyun gulped. “An old friend from Busan. He’s had a really bad turn of luck and needed somewhere to stay. I gave him the couch.” He pressed forward and dug his face into Himchan’s chest, then deflated like balloon— rapidly with a loud sigh of air. “We need a bigger apartment.”

Himchan let out a sleepy chortle and tugged his arm tighter around Daehyun, “we need a bigger apartment,” he agreed. “We haven’t had to share a bed since you were a little kid.”

His hand found its way into Daehyun’s hair and started to smooth down the strands until Daehyun had fully decompressed and fallen back asleep in the light of the rising sun. It was one of those fretfully light sleeps where one is too aware of what’s around them to believe themselves fully asleep but too far from reality to believe themselves truly awake.

However many hours were spent in that limbo, he woke up to a bright room and rolled away to throw the covers over his head. He could hear Himchan moving around outside with a slight hum. It was quiet besides his padded footsteps and his soft humming until the sound of the faucet came and went. “What?” Himchan said suddenly. More padded footsteps. “No, I’m Himchan, Daehyun’s friend. He said you were a friend, too?”

There was a pause, and Daehyun with his eyes closed and head buried under the covers strained to hear what was to faint to process.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, too.” Himchan said cheerfully. “I can go get him if you need me to, I think he’s still asleep.”

Another pause. “What? No, well, yes, but the drainstop doesn’t work. The shower is fine though.” Another long pause. “Well, for now just rest a bit more, then. Daehyun can help you once he gets up. Tell me if you need anything else though, okay? Are you hungry at all?”

Daehyun’s heart started pounding, but Himchan’s calm ‘suit yourself’ brought him back down to tired curiosity.

He faded back out slowly, and then would rush in only to fade back again, his rough sleep cycle coming in like the tides as he grasped loosely at any sort of actual rest. He finally lost his grip with the sound of a knock at the door. “Just a moment, Jongup,” Himchan called out. “Things are a bit crazier here than normal.”

He could already imagine Jongup’s calm smile and the warm pressure of his body when he’d come to lay with Daehyun in bed.

The door opened a little with a small creak, and then suddenly it was slamming against the wall. Daehyun jumped, eyes wide open, and sat straight up. “Himchan?” Just with the sound of Seunghyun’s voice, Daehyun was out of bed and running into the main room of the apartment. His bottom lip was trembling as Himchan backed away.

Seunghyun wasn’t much taller than either of them, but his arms were bigger than anyone’s arms had business being and he was holding himself in a way that made him seem a hundred times taller. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, where were you?” Seunghyun asked. His eyebrows were raised and knit together and he reached out towards Himchan like he intended to hold his hand and pull him close.

Daehyun’s feet had stuck to the ground. His hands were shaking. His eyes were wide open and unblinking. Neither noticed him.

“New York,” lied Himchan. “I got in last night. I’m leaving again in a couple minutes— Jongup was coming to take me to the airport.” He was still backing away every time Seunghyun took a step forward.

“Baby, I was so worried about you,” Seunghyun cooed. He sounded so sickly sweet. “I thought you had gotten hurt or something. Why didn’t you call?”

“I left a note, Seunghyun. I’m not your ‘baby’ anymore. We’re—”

“—in a bit of a rough patch,” interrupted Seunghyun. “Come on baby, please, Don’t do this. I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but you know I’m good for you. You know I treat you right. You can’t break up with me over a couple little spats, you know? Couples fight, it’s how you know we care about each other.”

“Was breaking my arm a means of showing you cared, then?” Himchan replied in a cold voice.

“Babe, come on, you know I didn’t mean to. I just got so jealous because I love you so much. You shouldn’t have been talking to that guy, you know how jealous I get.” When Himchan didn’t budge, he tried again. “I promise I’m different now, honey. I swear I’ll treat you exactly the way you deserve. Come back to me, come on, like you always do. You know we’re meant to be together.”

Himchan looked over to Daehyun, still frozen in fear, and something more confident took over his features, “you can’t make me come back to you again. I deserve better than you.”

“Better like who?” Seunghyun asked. “Is there someone else? Who else would even want you?”

“Why are you always so jealous if no one else would ever want me?” Himchan snapped.

“What, so now I’m the bad guy?” Seunghyun spat back. He almost broke, almost, but right before tumbling over the edge, he caught himself. “Babe, I know we both have our problems and we’ve had our fights, but aren’t we something worth fighting for? Come back with me, please. Just give me one more chance.”

He tried to grab Himchan, who screamed and pushed him away. It was a repetitive sort of fight, with Seunghyun trying desperately to get Himchan held in his arms and begging over and over, ‘babe, please, just listen to me’ and ‘come on, baby, just give me one more chance’ over and over while Himchan shouted for him to get away, to stop trying, to leave him alone, and so on over every comment Seunghyun tried to make.

Through the chaos of all of it, through the clamor and noise of their fighting, the sleeping boy on the couch finally opened his eyes. He waited for a long moment, his eyes were open but otherwise he was still and silent, as if he was in some sort of trance.

“I’m not going with you!” Himchan shouted. 

“Baby, please, I promise I’ve changed!” Seunghyun begged. He almost sounded genuinely kind. He almost sounded like a desperate lover trying to win back his lost heart.

The man’s eyes flickered to meet Daehyun’s, whose eyes were wide and uncertain and mouth hung open as if the words he wanted to say just couldn’t find their way out to the world. He was shaking. He seemed to mouth something nonsensical and pleading to the man, who sat up in response and looked over at the arguing pair.

“Just leave me alone,” Himchan shouted. “I don’t want to be with you anymore. We’re broken u—”

Seunghyun smacked him across the face. “Don’t say it! We’re not over! I’ll drag you back if I have to, come on!” His face was red and his hands were shaking as he grabbed Himchan’s wrist roughly and started to tug him. Himchan cried out in pain and tried to pull away.

Daehyun was shaking, but he did not move. It was like he was frozen in place. His hands trembled and his teary eyes flickered back over to the man, who was standing there, mouth agape and eyebrows pulled down.

The man was shaky and unsteady on his feet as he stood. Each step was toddling and unsteady. He was like a drunk, stumbling, swaying, and swerving from side to side as he tried to make it to the arguing pair. Twice he stumbled to one side and nearly fell to the ground on his way over. His feet barely seemed to cooperate with him as he dragged himself over slowly and unsteadily. Himchan had to catch him when he stopped, as he swayed too far and nearly fell to the ground again. As he made his way over, Daehyun finally found some consciousness to spare, and ran over to put himself between them as well.

“Fuck off, traitor,” said Seunghyun. “This doesn’t involve you.”

He suddenly found a hand tightly around his jaw, and the drunkard-like man lifted him off the ground by that grip as if he weighed nothing more than a penny. He swayed in the couple steps it took to press Seunghyun into the wall, about a foot off the ground, but he never dropped him nor did his strength seemed perturbed at all by the moving weight.

“I’m tired,” said the man flatly, “and you interrupted my nap.” He waited for Seunghyun to respond, what with how he was kicking his feet, whining, and pulling at the hand around his jaw, but his complaints didn’t seem to earn him his place back on the ground. Nothing seemed to bother the man. “If I were any more annoyed right now, I’d drop you out the window head first and let you smash into the pavement. Don’t come back here ever again. Erase their names from your mind. If I ever, ever see you again, or if I ever hear you spoke with either of them, you won’t live much longer.”

When the man dropped him, Seunghyun tried to punch him, only to find there was no response, as if the punch hadn’t hit him at all. The man picked him up and took his shaky, swaying walk to the door. Seunghyun was screaming and hitting him, trying to escape without any sort of gain.

The man threw him out of the apartment hard enough to send him sliding down the hall and hit the elevator. “Don’t come back,” warned the man. He slammed the door shut and locked it, only to collapse on the ground shortly after. His back slumped against the door and his legs splayed out on the ground. His head had lolled off to one side. Eyes shut, he looked like a dead man.

“Oh my god, Youngjae, are you alright?” Himchan cried out. He was shaking. Tears had come to his eyes now that the situation was finished and he was wrapping himself up in his own arms. Daehyun reached out to hold him, arms loosely over Himchan’s around his waist and cheek smushed up against his shoulder.

The man, or rather Youngjae, didn’t quite respond but rather squinted his eyes open and closed for several seconds. His mouth was hanging open.

“I’ll be okay,” promised Himchan with his head turned towards Daehyun. “Should we take him to the hospital?”

“No, he’s fine. I’ll take him to rest in the bed,” said Daehyun. “Sorry I… I wish I could’ve… helped more…. I just kind of froze.” He was reluctant to let go of Himchan, and held onto him tightly for several seconds longer before he let go and went towards Youngjae.

“It’s okay, I get it,” said Himchan. “I hope he’s alright.”

Daehyun came up to Youngjae slowly, as if afraid to startle him, and picked him up just as he had a couple hours earlier. Youngjae naturally, almost unintentionally, dug his face into the crook of his neck where he had bitten before. Daehyun could still feel him gag, but much weaker than he had been before. “I’ll take care of it,” he responded. “Text Jongup to call once he’s close, and again when he’s at the door. Don’t open it until you’re sure it’s him and only him. I’ll be back in a minute or two, hopefully.”

“Take your time—” Himchan’s voice was shaky and uneven. He had puffed his chest out and pulled his lips in tightly, but his hands were still shaking and his eyes were still wide and watery— “I’ll be okay.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Daehyun promised.

He carried Youngjae off into the other room then, and shut the door most of the way behind them. “If you need a little, go ahead,” he whispered.

It hurt a little less the second time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I was hoping to wait until certain things were resolved, but I'm impatient, so I'll just post it anyway. (Side note: I'm also going to be posting the first chapter of a new story in a couple of hours that I'm super excited for, so check my works for that in a couple hours ^^)
> 
> As always, comments and constructive criticism are SUPER welcome, so please leave something down below <33333 Seriously the comments on this story so far have made me so happy and I'm so excited to hear from you!
> 
> [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)

Youngjae was barely conscious when he pulled off Daehyun’s neck. Racked with gagging fits and dry heaving, he was weak and unsteady in Daehyun’s arms. Still, through it all, he tried to speak. His voice was barely a whisper, just at the precipice of being inaudible. “I need to leave.”

“What?” Daehyun’s heart dropped as he laid Youngjae down on the bed. “Why? I don’t mind helping you, okay?” He sat on the bed next to him, watching Youngjae’s unsteady breaths and shaking form. “You’ve only eaten twice, you can barely move, and you can barely keep your eyes open. You’ll die.”

“I’ll die if I stay,” Youngjae mumbled back. “He’ll talk.” His eyes were shut.

“Himchan? He won’t say anything if I ask him not too. And, who would he even talk to? He can barely leave the apartment without worrying Seung– his ex will spot him.” Daehyun pleaded. 

“The asshole,” Youngjae replied, “he’ll go to a bar– complain about some dying kid throwing him down the hallway right when he was about to get his ex back. Even if he tries to beef me up to make himself feel less pathetic– he’ll tell. He’ll exaggerate. I picked him up one handed and threw him into the elevator. They’ll hear.”

Daehyun watched him for a long, still moment. One in which the sound of the door faintly came through, and Daehyun assumed Jongup had finally reached them. “Hunters?” He asked in a whisper.

Youngjae gave a weak nod, barely there.

When Daehyun held his hands in front of him, they were shaking. He was shaking. “So we move… together. I’ll– I’ll find a new apartment, okay? Or we can go stay with my family in Busan–”

Youngjae made a small sound of dissent, faint and worried. “I can’t make it to Busan. Not like this.” He was barely breathing.

He was right. Youngjae couldn’t stand long enough to shower – still with his greasy hair and dirt smudged cheeks – much less make a trip like that. Even if they just sat in a train for most of it, it would be too much. “Then I’ll–” Daehyun tried desperately.

Youngjae’s sigh cut him off. “You don’t have to. Whatever you’re going to say next – you don’t have to. You don’t owe me anything, Daehyun. You’ve already done more than you promised to. Maybe it’s better if you just let me go.”

“I can’t– I can’t just let you– you’ll die! What part of you dying sounds better to you? I can figure this out.”

Youngjae just barely turned his head to meet Daehyun’s eyes. “If the hunters find out you’ve been helping me, they’ll kill you too. That mark on your neck is only going to get more and more visible the more I drink from you – my venom can only do so much to heal it – and once they can see a bite mark clearly, they’ll think the same of you as they do of me. Trust me, everyone would be better off if I go. The world won’t be missing much.” His head collapsed backwards to where it had been as he spoke, until his last words were so soft that Daehyun couldn’t be sure he had heard them correctly.

Daehyun’s hands found their way into his greasy hair, threading them through comfortingly like he would for Jongup or Himchan. “Then, I need to move too, don’t I? If they’re going to be after me anyway, we might as well go together.”

“You can still make it out without them bothering you,” Youngjae mumbled. “It’s not visible yet. You don’t owe me anything, okay? You don’t have to do this.”

Daehyun’s brow furrowed and his fingers left Youngjae’s hair to drum against his shaking knee. “Of course I don’t owe you anything. I’m not doing this because I have to or because I owe you, Youngjae. I’m doing it because… people should care about and help other people? Because if you can help someone and you don’t, what does that say about you? What could be worth more than your own humanity?”

“I’m not human,” Youngjae reminded in a faint whisper.

Daehyun demeanor only grew more rigid and unhappy. “You’re still a person. And I want to help you, because I think you deserve a shot at a happy life.”

Youngjae didn’t answer, and with his back turned to Daehyun, it was hard to read his expression until he was shaking uncontrollably. A sob just barely escaped him. When Daehyun peered over, Youngjae’s face was twisted up into a deep, pained frown and he was being wracked with dry sobs. 

Just like he would for any of his friends, he told himself, he laid down himself and wrapped his arm around Youngjae’s middle. “A new apartment, then. I’ll… I’ll find the money. I don’t have much but–” He said into Youngjae’s back.

“I’ll pay,” Youngjae cut him off. “Even… even when this ends. I owe you that much–” 

“I can’t ask you to do that–” Daehyun’s voice raised, yet when Youngjae’s soft tone cut him off again, he was silent. 

Youngjae was firmer, and just a bit louder than before. It made his tone more breathy and high-pitched, as if he didn’t have the strength for the volume he aimed for. “You saved– You’re saving me. I’m only alive because of you. I owe you more than I could ever pay, and not a thing you could name that would be out of my means. Allow me… please… I beg of you….” As he spoke on he quieted, until his last sentence was said at great lengths in the softest tone.

Daehyun took a moment to chew on his bottom lip and process what Youngjae had said, if nothing else than because of the strange way in which he had said it. “I’ll figure it out,” he whispered. 

Youngjae didn’t answer. They laid there for a long moment, with Daehyun holding him carefully as those dry sobs faded and soft snores replaced them. “I’ll figure it out,” Daehyun whispered again, more to himself.

It took longer than he would have thought to tear himself away. Feeling Youngjae’s weak heartbeat against his chest had set a new thread of anxiety through him that it wouldn’t be enough. Before he could fully pull away, before he could do much more than sit back up and watch Youngjae’s shallow breaths with his brow furrowed, the bedroom door opened. 

Jongup’s breathing was the steadiest thing in the room as he helped Himchan inside, and the three of them huddled together on half of the bed in silence, just staying together, foreheads pressed close.

“I have enough to get Himchan a KTX ticket to Busan,” Jongup said in a whisper. “If you’re parents or Daeil could–”

“I’ll call,” Daehyun agreed. He turned to Himchan with a half-hearted smile and nudged him with his shoulder. “My mom still owes yours for bringing her lunch every day when they were in grade school, I’m sure they’d take you no problem. Plus, Dad always need help in the store and Daeil probably wouldn’t mind an extra bartender, so you’ll have your pick if you want to work.”

Himchan nodded and offered that same sort of weak, half-hearted smile. “You think you can survive without me for six months?” He teased.

“I’ll just have an excuse to visit home more often,” Daehyun replied.

“Speaking of surviving,” Himchan mumbled, and then he nodded over to Youngjae. “Is he alright? How did he even do that?”

Daehyun chewed on his lip for a long moment, unsure. “Like I said, his luck’s been really bad lately. A semi-similar situation got his blood running, I guess. He’s… he can’t stay here either now, he said something about Seunghyun talking and them finding him…. I don’t know, he was barely conscious it was hard to hear.”

“It got his blood running?” Himchan asked. “You mean like adrenaline, right?”

“Yeah,” Daehyun agreed, “like that 8 year old kid that lifted the end of a car that rolled onto his brother, remember?” There has been a story on the news not to long beforehand about the case, and he and Himchan had watched it together. “It was just too similar to some stuff that’s happened to him, I guess.”

“I forgot about the car kid!” Himchan replied with animation. “Yeah, okay, I get that. I hope he didn’t hurt himself or anything.” 

“What’s up with him?” Jongup asked quietly.

“I don’t know the whole story but… well… um, I mean, some guys want him dead just because of who he is. Bigots, you know? It doesn’t matter if he’s done anything wrong, they hate him just for existing. He’s been on the run for a while now… just barely made it here before he starved to death….” Daehyun managed. He was shaking. “We have to be careful about feeding him though, I looked it up online and if we give him a lot at once it can kill him. I made a schedule.”

Himchan nodded, “and I’m guessing the reason why he isn’t in a hospital right now is that he thinks they’ll find him?”

“From what I understand, they do keep finding him. And if Seunghyun talks about what happened at all, they’ll probably find him again,” mumbled Daehyun, sparing Youngjae a worried glance. “It’s all… a lot…. He can’t stay here, he’s right. If there’s a chance they’ll find out he’s hiding out here… he should go. I just don’t know where.”

“You probably shouldn’t stay here either,” Himchan murmured. “I know you don’t want to hear it and I get that money is tight but–”

“Yeah,” Daehyun agreed. “I’m going to have to find a new place, I know.”

Jongup looked between them with thinned lips and furrowed eyebrows. “I know it’s not ideal with it only being one room and all, but the three of you could stay with me for a couple days? I even got a pull-out couch last week. It’d be tight but….”

Wrapped up suddenly in two pairs of warm arms, Jongup’s statement didn’t need to be finished and no answer need to be said out loud for him to understand their gratitude.

 

By the time Youngjae awoke, it was in a different apartment in a different part of town at completely different time of day, with the same Daehyun looking down at him with the same worried expression. The small studio apartment was littered with bags and suitcases to the point that it seemed hard to move about, with just small paths outlining their way from the bed to the couch and from the couch to kitchenette in the corner and the bathroom across from it. The outside world through the small row of windows was dark, whereas Youngjae remembered it being around noon when he had last checked.

He was still tired, eyelids heavy as he struggled to focus on Daehyun’s face. “What’s–?” He cut himself off.

“Sorry for waking you up. I put you down a little harder than I meant to. We’re in my friend Jongup’s apartment; he’s going to let us stay here until we find a new place. Himchan’s also going to stay here, just until my parents can take him in Busan,” explained Daehyun.

Youngjae barely lifted his head up, but looked around the small, one-room apartment with confusion. “Are we all going to fit?”

Daehyun’s face shaded a little pink. “Well, yeah, but, um, we’re going to have to share the couch. It pulls out! I mean, like, it’s a sofa bed, so we won’t have to sleep on top of each other or anything, and if you’re really uncomfortable with that I could sleep on the floor probably and–” He fiddled with his fingers, not looking at Youngjae as he rambled.

“It’s fine,” Youngjae agreed. “Thank you.”

Daehyun gulped. “While you’re awake, actually, um… I thought maybe you’d want to clean up a bit? You might feel better if you aren’t covered in dirt anymore and… well we do have to share the bed, umm…. You can go back to sleep after, we’re all getting tired too.”

“If you run a bath, I’d be happy to–” Youngjae mumbled.

“So, that’s the problem,” Daehyun admitted. “There’s no bathtub. I know you aren’t okay with standing for long periods, so what I thought was, umm… I used to help my mom back when she was a hairdresser sometimes, s-so I could wash your hair in the sink while you stay sitting with your head back and all… and then you wouldn’t have to stand as long and could maybe manage a quick shower?”

“That sounds… probably okay….” He seemed unsure and given the state he was in, Daehyun didn’t blame him. He was keeping his eyes open more often than not, at least, but he seemed as unwell as he had been since Daehyun met him in the alley.

Daehyun offered a half smile, saying, “you don’t have to push it if it’s too hard for you to stand, okay? I’ll get things set up since everything’s kind of a mess right now, okay?”

With everything ready, Daehyun was careful about carrying Youngjae into the bathroom and putting him down on the folding chair he had moved in there, leading Youngjae to rest the back of his neck against a towel he had propped against the lip of the sink.

Water gushed softly behind him, wetting the ends of his hair with cold droplets that slowly warmed. Daehyun hummed a little to himself as he helped Youngjae’s head under the warm water and rubbed gently at his scalp.

Youngjae’s eyes fell shut as the smells of some sweet shampoo filled the air, smelling more like  _ clean _ than anything he could really put a name to.

Daehyun was gentle and slow about running it through his hair, cleaning it while also massaging his scalp. He took his time, with slow relaxing motions that lulled Youngjae back towards the warm arms of sleep. A shiver ran down his spine at the edges of his scalp being hit by cold air once the water had moved further down his head, but otherwise he was relaxed.

Everything was slow and gentle, the sort of care he hadn’t experienced in along time, and he fought back the tears in stinging at the very back of his eyes.

A new bottled opened with a  _ click _ and another particularly clean scent followed, as Daehyun carefully combed conditioner through his hair and rinsed it in the warm water until Youngjae was dozing off and his hair was completely clean.

“Okay,” Daehyun murmured, for whatever reason his voice carrying a soft sort of tune. “You’re all good. The chair won’t fit in the shower, I checked, but everything’s in there for you, and I’ll be outside if you need anything, okay? You can use any of the stuff in there, none of us mind. If it’s too much and you can’t stand, don’t sweat it, okay? It’s definitely more important that you get better than anything else.”

The sound of the shower filled the apartment with static as Daehyun set on setting up the couch bed. It finished before he did (though admittedly that was partially because it took him awhile to figure out how to actually get the bed frame out of the couch) and Youngjae was calling for him by the time he had the bed made.

“Can you carry me back?” Youngjae mumbled.

“Of course,” Daehyun agreed, helping the woozy boy into his arms. Youngjae’s eyes were closed again and he struggled to keep his head up, eventually leaning his head on Daehyun’s chest. “Do you feel a bit better now?” He asked.

Youngjae gave a weak nod. “Feel a little bit more like a person,” he mumbled back. The moment his back hit the bed, he was asleep again.

It took couple more hours for Daehyun to join him, resigned to stay to the very edge of the somewhat cramped bed in order to put some distance between them.

A cold weight shifted against his arm, pressing up against him, before he could even roll to one side. Youngjae’s heartbeat felt just as weak as it had earlier in the day. He shivered a he curled up against Daehyun, breath slow and uneven.

Daehyun didn’t think about it for more than a moment before he was rolling over and hooking his head over Youngjae’s. He pulled him close to his chest with a shiver of his own at how cold Youngjae was, and pulled the covers tighter over top of them. Youngjae buried his face into the juncture of Daehyun’s shoulder and neck, as if even in his sleep knowing where his bite mark was, and hummed a soft, tired tune for just a second. Daehyun made the same humming noise back at him.

He twined one hand in Youngjae’s hair and wrapped the other tightly around his waist. He tried to convince himself, again, that it was fine because it wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Himchan or Jongup. “You’re so cold, I’m worried,” Daehyun mumbled. He held Youngjae closer, worried that Youngjae might freeze to death with his lack of fat to keep himself warm, and didn’t move away when Youngjae’s legs pressed against his, seeking the same warmth as the rest of his body. He just hoped his own body heat and the covers would be enough to keep Youngjae warm through the cool April night. “I’ve got you,” he whispered, “I won’t let you die.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the weather warmed, so did their hearts
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism super welcome!~ Please tell me what you think!
> 
> [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)

Youngjae suddenly gripped his head and let out a soft whine. Before Daehyun could even look at him, he had curled up in a ball on their new couch. The instruction sheet he had been reading from slid from his lap onto the floor, over top of a pile of screws. He was still clutching his head. His breath was faint and interrupted by fits of gagging. One of his hands came down from his head suddenly to his chest, and he gripped at his shirt over where his heart was and whimpered loudly.

Daehyun dropped the two pieces of the IKEA coffee table he was trying to put together and turned quickly to face him. Without thinking, his hand made its way into Youngjae’s hair as he smoothed the messy strands down.

The rash that had once overtaken a good portion of his upper body and face had faded to just a faint redness under his chin and along his collarbone. His skin itself was still dull, with deep, dark bags under his eyes. When he moved his head, a couple strands of his hair stayed behind, and even more came out as Daehyun petted him, though it didn’t look like Youngjae had lost as much hair as the garbage can would imply he had.

“You alright?” Daehyun asked softly.

“My chest hurts again,” Youngjae whined, “and I feel like I’m going to throw up.” He gagged again, uncomfortable, as Daehyun rested his chin on the couch by Youngjae’s head and kept playing with his hair.

“What happened?” He asked. “You seemed fine before.”

Youngjae couldn’t answer right away, trying to fight back whatever had gotten him. He thinned his pale lips until it faded. “I just… got really… lightheaded all of a sudden.” He answered. “I thought I was going to faint or throw up or both. I really didn’t want to do that again.”

Daehyun hummed softly and pressed his free hand to Youngjae’s shallow cheek. It looked a little odd, the way a gap came between his cheekbones and his jaw, both of which jutted out a bit to form an indent in the middle. “Did you sit up too fast? Or turn your head too quickly?” His thumb rubbed gently over the high points of Youngjae’s cheek as he spoke in a soft, almost childish tone.

“No, I was just sitting still and watching you build the table. I hadn’t moved in a while, since the last time you needed me to read a step,” mumbled Youngjae. He winced. “My chest really hurts.”

“Do you think eating a little would help? It’s been a couple of days.”

Youngjae shook his head a little, only to gag roughly and hold his hand over his mouth. “I don’t want to overeat, it’ll only make me sick again. Normally I’d only eat once a week or so, and even that was a little too often for most vampires.”

“How often would they normally eat?”

“Once a fortnight, probably, but they’d take a lot more in one go then I would. We don’t really need that much blood to keep us going, just as long as our human’s eaten recently.” Youngjae’s eyes were closed as he spoke. His gagging fits had faded to some degree.

“Well, whenever you’re hungry, let me know, okay?” Daehyun reminded.

Youngjae mumbled an affirmative answer before letting out another soft, wordless whine. “Why am I still getting these fainting spells? I thought I’d be better by now.”

“It’s only been two months since you started eating again,” Daehyun replied softly. “It’s going to take a while to get better, okay? Just hold on. Moving last month probably didn’t help any.” He sighed, but he didn’t pull away or go back to trying to put the table together, and instead just sat there with his hand in Youngjae’s hair. “You are getting a little better, at least. Your cheeks are a bit fuller. Plus, when you first came, you could barely move.”

Youngjae didn’t answer, just looking down at his knees where they were curled up near his chest.

Daehyun leaned forward and tilted his chin down to press their heads together, though perpendicular as Daehyun still had his chin resting on the couch while Youngjae was laying down. They stayed like that, still and silent, for several minutes. “I’m… I guess I’ll… get back to the table….” Daehyun mumbled when Youngjae still hadn’t responded, and still he was met with silence. “Are you still dizzy?”

Youngjae responded by curling in on himself a little further and covering his mouth. 

Daehyun understood. He pressed his head against Youngjae’s momentarily and then stood. He fetched the waste basket from the bathroom, brought from his first apartment when they had gone back to get what furniture wasn’t too old, and placed it near his head. “If you need something, just tap me, okay?”

Youngjae hummed a sort of whiny tone in response, and pressed his hand into Daehyun’s hair for a couple moments before returning to clutching his chest and mouth.

Daehyun smiled in a small and private sort of way at the affection and went back to working on the table drawers.

By the time he had the coffee table about half built, Youngjae had taken the instruction sheet again and began reading it to Daehyun, which sped the process up given that Daehyun was struggling to understand the directions on his own. By the time it was finished, he was sitting up again.

Youngjae slid down from the couch to sit on the floor with Daehyun once the table was standing fully built. His head found its way to Daehyun’s shoulder as they stared blankly around the slowly coming together room. Youngjae hummed softly before mumbling, “it’s really starting to look nice in here,” in a sleepy and content sort of way. His eyes had fallen shut again and his breathing was so even, it was as if he was already asleep. “Feels like home.” His cheeks turned a little pink.

“Yeah,” Daehyun agreed in a raspy and quiet sort of way, “our home is turning out really nice. Thanks again for paying for everything and helping with the rent and–”

“Don’t start thanking me,” Youngjae mumbled back. “I live here too, you know. And… even when I’m better… you saved my life. I have more than enough to keep going for centuries without doing anything…. This really isn’t much to me. We could have even found somewhere with three bedrooms instead of two, in case Jongup or Himchan needed to stay here.”

“It’s a lot to me,” Daehyun replied quietly.

Youngjae’s eyes opened and he lifted his head just enough that he and Daehyun were even. Their faces were closer than either expected. A faint flush took over both of their expressions. After a long moment of looking one another in the eyes – breath caught up in their throats in the silent room – they both moved to pressed their foreheads together, pinning their bangs between them. Daehyun’s eyes fell down to the space between them while Youngjae’s closed, and they shared between them a long exhale.

“It’s a lot to me,” repeated Daehyun, so soft he was nearly inaudible.

“S–” A quickly as Youngjae had started speaking, he quieted, and stilled. When Daehyun looked up at him, his face was red and his eyes were wide. “Rabbit,” he mumbled with a gulp, his eyes dropping down and eventually scrunching shut. After a long moment in which Daehyun didn’t respond to the seemingly out of place word, he could feel Youngjae relax. “I don’t think there’s anything I could ever do that would be enough to repay you for what you’ve done for me.” 

Daehyun shook his head very slightly, just enough for Youngjae to feel the movement where their foreheads met, but not enough to break them apart. “I don’t want you to feel like you need to repay me, I–”

“Even then,” Youngjae interrupted, “even then. Besides, like I said before, it’s my home too, isn’t it? You even picked out a place with two bedrooms specifically so that we’d each have our own. If one is my room and the other is your room, then we both live here equally, right? So if I’m helping with the rent and buying furniture and anything else, and if you don’t want to see it as a gift of gratitude, then think of it as me doing the basic things expected of a roommate.”

“Oh… okay. Yeah. I want it to be your home too,” Daehyun agreed softly.

Youngjae gulped again, daring a look into Daehyun’s eyes before he shifted his gaze back to his fiddling fingers. His cheeks were red. “Then it is, lamb.” Again, it took several seconds in which Daehyun was unsure of how to respond in order for Youngjae to relax.

Daehyun made the faintest motion of nodding again, just enough for Youngjae to be able to feel and understand the motion. He reached up to cup Youngjae’s cheek. His fingers splayed gently across his smooth skin and his thumb ran soft crescents across his cheekbone. Youngjae leaned into the gesture, but otherwise didn’t respond, and eventually Daehyun’s hand brushed back through the hair behind his ear and then dropped into his own lap.

In the silence of the room, the two still boys sat with their foreheads pressed together and their eyes closed. Neither moved nor spoke for several minutes. Both were too nervous to draw attention to how close they were to one another. 

“I’m sure Jongup appreciates that we got out of his hair too,” Youngjae eventually mumbled. The room stayed still and silent around them. Neither moved away.

Daehyun nodded in that faint way again. “He’s a good friend, but I’m sure he missed his privacy.” Again the silence prevailed, and the stillness of the room overtook them until Youngjae’s breaths were so even and soft that Daehyun wasn’t sure he hadn’t fallen asleep. “Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yeah,” Youngjae agreed. Neither moved for a long moment, almost seeming reluctant to separate. There was a slight shift in how their foreheads pressed together, causing their noses to brush against each other, and both flushed a slightly rosier shade.

Daehyun broke away to yawn. His face scrunched up and his mouth went wide in a manner that resembled a kitten. He leaned forward and pressed his face into Youngjae’s shoulder. 

Youngjae laughed at him, soft and warm. “Let’s go to bed,” he murmured as he tugged on Daehyun’s arm just a moment before standing. As he stood, about midway upright, he gripped his head suddenly and started to fall forward.

Daehyun caught him with careful arms around his waist and a soft smile. “Dizzy?” He asked. When Youngjae nodded, he helped him press his face into his shoulder.

Youngjae didn’t necessarily relax into Daehyun’s arms, nor did he let go of his head even as he rested it on Daehyun’s shoulder. He let Daehyun take most of his weight though as he waited for the dizziness to dissipate. When it did, he didn’t move away but rather let go of his head in favor of wrapping his arms around Daehyun’s shoulders and nuzzling his face into the faint bite mark on his neck. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m still so dizzy. It’s like I’m not even getting better sometimes.”

Daehyun ran a hand up and down Youngjae’s back slowly and rocked them side to side. “I do think you’re doing a lot better, even if it feels slow,” he mumbled. “I know it’s difficult but we’re getting there, I promise. All you need to do is eat when you’re hungry and we’ll get there. Just as long as you promise to not stop eating again.”

Youngjae didn’t answer.

Daehyun held him a little tighter. “I know you don’t want to talk about it – about whatever happened last year, but… I’m here for you, okay? I’m here if you’re hungry or if you need to talk or if you just want a hug. I don’t know what you’ve been through and I know that makes this harder for you, but I’m going to be here regardless, no matter what. We’re going to get through this together.” 

He got a firm head shake against his shoulder in response. “I still don’t understand you,” mumbled Youngjae. “Why together? Why is it ‘we’? Why is it that you can… do all of this when I’m a monster that could easily kill you or get you killed?”

Daehyun wouldn’t let him put physical distance between them when he knew it was just Youngjae shutting down. He had seen this enough times to know. “You’re not a monster, Youngjae. You know that. I know that. Anyone who’s ever really met you knows that. What you are is… you’re… good. You’re– We’re… I don’t know how to say it, but… but sometimes… people are going to see things in you that maybe you can’t see in yourself and… and I see you and… I want you to be healthy and happy. So please just lean on me whenever you think you’re going to fall – just tell me what I can do to help and I will. I promise.”

Youngjae was shaking against him. A bit of tears had gathered under his eyes and began to wet the collar of Daehyun’s shirt. “Why?” He choked out. 

“Because you’re important to me,” Daehyun replied, as if it should be obvious. “You’re part of our family now.”

Youngjae’s hands twisted themselves up in the fabric of his shirt as he started crying. Not sobbing outright, but rather a stifled and hesitant sort of hiccuping tears. They came and went as he fought them back, with ragged breaths and a tightly wound facial expression as he tried to fight it down. “D-Daehy–” He couldn’t choke the word out.

Daehyun, for all his worry, just rocked them side to side and returned to rubbing Youngjae’s back. “I’m here,” he promised in a whisper. “I’m right here with you whenever you need me.”

“I miss them,” Youngjae replied in a faint, pained whisper, and then he was sobbing. As if a storm had come to shore, the sudden crash of Youngjae’s pain hit them with little warning of its intensity beforehand. He cried in a loud and broken sort of way. It was jarring. He was usually so detached. Daehyun had watched him choke down tears so many times it was like a ritual, and yet there Youngjae was, breaking down into him. 

He could only hold him tighter and wordlessly shush him. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand. He wasn’t going to ask. After two months of Youngjae shutting down at anything alluding to his past, Daehyun knew better than to ask. He kept one arm firmly around Youngjae’s waist to ground the both of them, but the other trailed up and into his hair, petting him again as he had when Youngjae was unwell on the couch. “I’m here.” It was the only thing he could promise. “I’m here with you, and I’m not going anywhere, okay? No matter who’s gone, I’m here with you and that’s where I’m going to stay. I don’t know what happened and I won’t ask you, but just know you aren’t alone. Not just me – Jongup and Himchan, too. You’re part of our family now. We’re here with you. We’ll always be here with you.” 

“My– I–” Youngjae continued to try to sob out. Eventually he shook his head, acknowledging it was too hard to speak.

Daehyun hummed softly. “You don’t have to tell me if it hurts too much. You don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready and you want to, okay? Just as long as you know that I’m here with you, that I’ll be here with you as long as you need me. I’ll be here with you no matter what you need from me. All three of us will.”

It took twenty minutes or so for Youngjae to calm down enough to stop sobbing, with Daehyun rocking them gently and petting his hair throughout. He kept promising again and again, “you aren’t alone”, “we have a home here, together”, and “you’re family now”, but he wasn’t sure if it was helping at all. He kept trying, so unaccustomed to the way Youngjae had broken down that he was entirely unsure of what to do or say.

But eventually, Youngjae did calm down. Eventually, all that was left of his tears were his red-rimmed, puffy eyes and a wet spot on the shoulder of Daehyun’s shirt. “Let’s go to bed,” he said in an embarrassed whisper as he pulled away from the embrace, with not a single word about the breakdown he had just had.

Of the two bedrooms in the apartment, one was sparse while the other was cluttered. The furniture in both was the same, Youngjae had just ordered doubles of everything online and then he and Daehyun had put it all together – each had a nice bed with a new mattress, side tables, and a dresser in addition to the built in closets. But all of the drawers in the former were empty and the bedsheets were perfect as if they had never been slept in. The latter, however, had enough clothes to be overflowing, with another dresser soon to arrive to help handle the load. The bedsheets were a mess and both nightstands were cluttered with books and chargers, one with Youngjae’s glasses and his contact lens case and the other with Daehyun’s knick knacks and nasal strips.

Neither acknowledged it when they both went for that cluttered room. They weaved between the pile of clothing waiting for their places to arrive and pulled their pajamas from the end of either side of the bed. Neither said a word as they both changed facing away from one another. It was a quiet moment, only filled by Youngjae’s soft sniffles, and even those faded with time. He finished changing before Daehyun could, in his boxers and a thin, old T-shirt that smelled like Daehyun’s body wash, in hopes that the combination would keep him from overheating in the budding warmth of June.

Daehyun was pulling off his shirt when Youngjae turned around, his back to Youngjae, who stared blankly, without expression, at the tan and toned skin, his mouth just barely agape. His cheeks flushed a little pink when Daehyun turned around. He looked him up and down once, gulped, and looked away.

Daehyun almost wanted to tease him, to joke that it wasn’t even the first time Youngjae had seen him shirtless and that Youngjae had little to comment on when he, himself, had apparently given up on sleeping in pants, but he said none of those things. Still there was a faint smile at the corner of his lips at Youngjae’s sudden prudishness, even if both remained silent, and Youngjae had no comment when Daehyun didn’t put on the shirt he had slept in the night before.

Neither commented as they crawled into the same bed together, facing away from one another, and turned off their lights. They laid there, still and facing away from one another for long enough that each felt the other might very well be asleep, or at least believe they themselves might be asleep.

Just like clockwork Youngjae rolled onto his back when it felt like his breath was even enough and Daehyun had stilled enough for them to pretend they weren’t awake. Just like clockwork, Daehyun rolled over to his other side and paused for a long moment, and then further to sleep flat on his stomach as if it didn’t occur to him that like every night he would run into Youngjae. He found his roll put him half on top of him, one of his legs hooked over Youngjae’s, but didn’t move away. He settled with his head on Youngjae’s chest, his hand lightly gripping at Youngjae’s shirt and deflated slowly into stillness. It wasn’t until he was pressed fully against him that he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Youngjae responded with an arm around Daehyun’s waist, against the smooth skin there where Daehyun’s shirt would’ve be riding up if he had been wearing one, and reaching the other arm up so he could keep in tangled in Daehyun’s hair. His thumb rubbed small crescent shapes into Daehyun’s bare side until his breath evened and all had gone still. 

His face stayed red as he laid there with Daehyun clutched against his chest. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Daehyun shirtless, no, nor was Daehyun anywhere close to the first man he had seen shirtless (or naked, for that matter). But it was different, with his arms tightly around Daehyun in more undress than his mother ever would have approved of. “Rabbit,” he whispered. “So– Sweet fawn.” Softly, as if any pressure would awaken Daehyun, he left a kiss in his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protip: if you have heart pains and dizzy spells due to low weight, eating something salty and drinking a glass of water usually helps. Do talk to a doctor if it persists


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism super welcome!~ Please tell me what you think!
> 
> [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)

The apartment was warm in the heat of August with the windows open to let in the breeze. Daehyun had woken up to the faucet running and Youngjae humming in the other room. In the distance, so soft he could barely hear it, footsteps trailed up the stairs and to the landing of their floor.

A loud noise broke through the otherwise relaxed morning – a plate falling back into the sink. Daehyun didn’t think it broke, but he sat up anyway. He could hear Youngjae running toward him as someone came down the hall towards their apartment.

The door swung open. Suddenly Youngjae was near on top of him, terror in his eyes, and then his face was buried in Daehyun’s shoulder. He was struck momentarily by how red Youngjae’s irises were becoming over their months together, having turned a dark ruby color that was only brightening every time he fed, but the moment they were gone in his shoulder, he pushed the thoughts about it from his mind.

“What’s wrong?” Daehyun murmured. His arms wrapped tightly around him only to find Youngjae was shaking. He pulled Youngjae more properly on his lap and tangled one hand in his hair. His brows furrowed and lips pulled down taut.

“Hunters,” Youngjae replied in a whisper. He buried his face in Daehyun’s shoulder and let out a soft sobbing noise when the footsteps neared their door.

“Are you sure?” Daehyun asked quietly. “How can you tell?”

“They smell like vampire blood,” replied Youngjae. “I think there’s some left on their shoes.” There was a knock on the door and he let out a quiet whimper. He sniffed, then shrunk further into Daehyun. “They smell like the ones that have been tracking me. They’ll pretend to be federal investigators, probably. It’s what they did whenever they’d find me at hotels to get into my room. You can tell they’re fake because their hair is too long and they don’t shave like they’re supposed to.” 

Daehyun took a deep breath. “You’re absolutely sure? You can tell all of that just based off smelling them through the door? I know your senses are better than mine, but is there any chance you’re wrong?”

Youngjae shook his head. “I’m sure,” he whispered.

The knocking came again, loud and demanding. 

“One second,” Daehyun shouted suddenly, “I’m still in my pajamas!” He stood up and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt. “Stay in here, okay? Text Jongup that it’s an emergency and he needs to be here as soon as possible, then hide in the closet. Try not to make any noise,” he whispered. “I won’t let them find you. I’ll protect you. Just trust me, okay?”

“Daehyun,” Youngjae whined, fear in his eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

“They could kill y–”

“Do you trust me?” Daehyun repeated. Youngjae nodded. “Then go hide. I’ll get them to leave. You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be safe. I won’t let them hurt you, I promise.” He waited until Youngjae had curled up in a better hiding space before leaving the room and closing the door. He took another deep breath as he went over to the front door and opened it, looking ruffled and confused. “Hello?” He asked.

In front of him were two young men, tall and muscular, with somewhat long, unkempt hair and stubble. They were wearing wrinkly suits and neither looked comfortable in them. “Hello, are you Jung Daehyun?”

“Yes, I am,” Daehyun replied. The sink was still running.

“My name is agent Lee Jaewon, this is my partner, Woo Kibum, with the National Intelligence Service.” He reached out, shaking both of their hands. “We have reason to believe you may know the whereabouts of a dangerous fugitive and would like to ask you a couple questions. If you could let us in, this will not take much time,” said one. The other stood stoically behind, but Daehyun could tell he was trying to peer into the apartment.

“Fugitive?” Daehyun replied with confusion. “Um, sure, I guess, come in. I’ll get you some coffee.” He rubbed at the hand they had shaken. What if there was blood on their hands?

They followed him into the kitchen where he turned the water off. Youngjae, as per usual in the two months they had been living together, had made a pot of coffee already, so Daehyun simply pulled three mugs down and filled them. Leaning against the kitchen counter and staring at the strange two men with what he hoped was confusion and not terror, he waited for either to speak.

“Do you mind if I look around?” Kibum asked. His gaze shifted around the kitchen and into the living room, separated only by an island counter.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” Daehyun replied in a small voice. He made himself smaller as he stared into his coffee. “My boyfriend is really particular about some things. He’ll get angry if you accidentally move any of his stuff.” He rubbed at a large, yellowing bruise on his arm from a couple weeks beforehand, a simple mishap at work. He had a couple burn marks from plates that went out too hot as well, and he supposed that helped. His hands were shaking. He put down his mug.

Kibum looked like he was going to object, but Jaewon stopped him with a hand on his arm. He whispered softly to Kibum, “look at the bruises. If what we heard about that Seunghyun guy was right, then his boyfriend might also be–” 

“Yeah,” Kibum relented with a hiss. He turned to Daehyun then, his expression just a bit softer, and both spent some time drinking their own mugs of coffee before proceeding, as if unsure of what to do since snooping around was no longer an option. “Who would your boyfriend be, Mr. Jung? Out of curiosity.” Kibum seemed suspicious, but friendly. Jaewon had more or less chugged his coffee, putting the empty mug on the counter.

“His name is Jongup,” Daehyun answered, nervously. “It’s not him, right? I-I know he has a temper and he loses control sometimes but really, he isn’t a bad guy and he’d never do anything wrong on purpose and–” His hand felt slimy and wrong.

Jaewon looked at the way Daehyun was rubbing at his hand with confusion. “No, not him, don’t worry. Could you tell us, in your own words, about an event that happened about 4 months ago? April 19th, if I’m remembering correctly. Something that happened with a man named Seunghyun?” Daehyun looked up at the name, hands stilling. He took a deep breath, then looked away and set his jaw.

“Oh. Him. If that’s who you’re looking for, well, I can’t say I’m surprised. He’s not here. I’d never let him stay and frankly Jongup would deck him on sight–” He was prompted again about what happened. “My friend Himchan broke up with him in January because he’s an abusive asshole. He stayed with me for about a month before going to stay with his sister in New York. You can only stay like 90 days without a visa, though, so he had to come back. My older brother, Daeil came up right before Himchan came, to–” Daehyun thinned his lips, suddenly unsure. “You can’t tell Seunghyun where Himchan is, okay? He’s dangerous and he’d do anything to get him back, even lying to the police to get help looking. He nearly killed him and–”

“We will not be telling any of the information you give us to him,” said Jaewon firmly, “I promise.”

Daehyun faked a gulp. “Daeil came up to take him to Jeju. He has some friends there and he could hook Himchan up with a place to stay and work, but we were worried Seunghyun would catch him while he was in Seoul for a couple days. On the last day he was with us, I woke up to someone knocking on the door. It burst open and it was Seunghyun. I was– I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do but– thank god for Daeil.” He gulped, grumbling the next part to himself, “he was drunk like he always is, but whatever.”

“What did Daeil do?” Kibum prompted. He had finished his coffee.

“He stumbled over to Seunghyun and beat the shit out of him,” replied Daehyun. “He’s always been like that. He gets drunk and then fights anyone he can. I guess for once it was a good thing….”

“So, it was your brother, Jung Daeil, that threw Seunghyun out of your apartment?” Jaewon asked. “Was there anyone else there?”

“No,” Daehyun replied. “It was just he, Himchan, and I.” His hand felt slimy. It felt dirty. What if there was still blood on their hands? Didn’t blood carry diseases? What if he got sick? What if he got sick, and then Youngjae got sick from drinking from him? His hands were dirty. He was shaking.

Kibum sighed. “We’re looking for a man by the name of Yoo Youngjae. He’s about your height, skinny, and has black hair. From the description Seunghyun gave of the man who threw him out of your apartment, we believed you might know his whereabouts. We have some photos of the fugitive that Seunghyun confirmed to be his attacker. Please, Mr. Jung, this man is incredibly dangerous. If you have seen or met him at any point, you need to tell us immediately. He can and will kill you. No matter what he says, no matter what he’s promised you, he’s a monster. Even if you only interacted with him once, he will kill you.”

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” Daehyun lied. His breath was speeding up. A knot had formed in the center of his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Kibum pulled out several pictures. They were all of Youngjae, but he looked different, from his plump cheeks to his red-rimmed eyes. He was sitting inside some small, indoor, wooden podium box, wearing a nice suit, and speaking into a microphone in the first one. In the second, he was in the same place, but he was crying. In the third, he was standing, showing a full and healthy body, his eyes puffy. To his side, there was a judge, watching him leave the box. 

The pictures were taken in a courtroom.

Daehyun took them from Kibum, studying them carefully. Despite looking significantly healthier, Youngjae still had deep bags under his red-rimmed eyes in all of them. His full, pink lips, unlike the pale color Daehyun was used to, were permanently drawn into a frown, whether he was speaking or not. The fourth and final photo was a side view of him at one of the benches, staring up at the front of the courtroom with tears tracks down his cheek.

“I don’t know him,” Daehyun replied in a stilted and shaky manner. “I’ve never seen him before.”

“I don’t know that I believe you, Mr Jung,” said Jaewon. “If you don’t know this man, and it was your brother that kicked Seunghyun out of your apartment, then why are you so nervous right now? This is just a conversation, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I don’t know him,” Daehyun repeated. His breath was coming hard and fast at that point. The room was swirling around him. His chest hurt. His heart was pounding.

“Why are you so nervous, then? Just tell us the truth, Daehyun,” prompted Jaewon.

He needed to say something, anything, to explain himself. Unfortunately, there was an excuse on the tip of his tongue. His brain was reeling for anyway to keep the thought in, to keep it from taking over. “My hands are dirty,” he said. Suddenly, his breath was uncomfortably fast and uneven and he was running into the bathroom in an unsteady way. 

The two men followed him, confused as he turned on the sink and began washing his hands. “What?”

“I shook hands with you and neither of us put on hand sanitizer first and now my hands are dirty and I’m going to get sick. I’m going to get sick. I’m going to make Jongup sick. I’m going to get all of the customers sick if I touch their plates. I have to call out of work. I’m going to make everyone sick. My hands are dirty. I’m going to get sick.” He couldn’t breathe.

“Our hands are clean–” Jaewon tried to argue.

“I’m fine,” he said to himself. The sink cut off and he went for the towel to dry off his hands. “There, I washed my hands. I’m fine. I’m clean. I won’t get sick. I won’t make anyone sick.” He reached back for the faucet, washing his hands again.

He had washed, dried, and re-washed his hands so many times that they were red and chapped by the time the door opened. Jaewon and Kibum were still trying to argue with him, to get him to stop washing his hands and tell them what he knew about Youngjae when Jongup wandered over to them, his brow furrowed and his chest puffed up in an unfamiliar way. “Who the fuck are you two, and what the fuck did you do to my boyfriend?”

“I’m Agent Woo Kibum with the NIS, this is my associate, Lee Jaewon. We came to ask Mr. Jung about a dangerous fugitive by the name of Yoo Youngjae,” replied Kibum.

Jaewon seemed a little less confident about the situation. “While we were questioning Mr. Jung, he… had some sort of breakdown and started washing his hands repeatedly…. My colleague and I were trying to figure out if this hysteria is due to some sort of guilt or–”

“He has OCD, you dumbass,” replied Jongup. He pushed past them and turned the sink off, then pulled Daehyun down to sit on the floor.

“N-No, Jongup, wait!” Daehyun tried to fight against him to get to the sink. “I missed a spot. I didn’t wash under my nails well enough. Just let me wash my hands one more time. Please, one more time and they’ll be clean.”

“Get out,” Jongup said harshly to Jaewon and Kibum.

“But the fugitive–”

Daehyun was fighting against him, trying to get back to the sink. “Please, Jongup, I’m going to get sick. I’m going to get you sick. I need to wash my hands. Just one more time please. One more time and then I’ll stop.”

“We don’t know any Yoo Young-whatevers. What I do know is that he hasn’t had an episode this bad in two years, and now he’s having an anxiety attack because you two stressed him out so much with your bullshit. Get out of my apartment, now, before I call the police. And don’t come back.” Jongup’s voice was harsh and unlike him. He eventually gave in to letting Daehyun stand, but kept him pushed up against the wall away from the sink.

“Jongup, please. I need to wash my hands. I’m going to get sick.”

Jaewon and Kibum shared a look, sighed, and grumbled to each other as they left. “I told you that guy was bullshitting us. He saw the NIS jackets and figured he could con us into finding his ex for him by pretending he had a lead,” Jaewon said. “That freak of nature definitely starved to death by now.”

“It was worth looking into, alright? Don’t get on my back about it,” replied Kibum. They shut the door to the apartment behind them with a loud thud. 

“I need to wash my hands,” Daehyun repeated feebly.

Jongup let out a deep breath and pulled Daehyun to his chest. “I’m sorry. I know physically stopping you is the worst option possible, but I needed to do something fast. I’m going to carry you into the bedroom now, and then I’m going to make sure they leave.” He rocked them side to side gently until Daehyun nodded in consent to Jongup’s plan, and then picked Daehyun up and carried him into the bedroom.

He looked around the room for just a moment before placing Daehyun on the bed and looking underneath. He closed the door and then went for the closet instead, where he found Youngjae curled up with wet cheeks and a harshly set jaw. “You’re safe,” Jongup assured in a whisper. “I want to make sure they’re gone, but I need someone to take care of Daehyun, okay?” He pressed his hand to Youngjae’s face briefly, rubbing his tears away with an awkward but patient smile. “All you need to do is hold him, make sure he knows he’s going to be fine, and get him to do his breathing exercises. I’ll be back in a couple minutes. Take deep breaths. Everything is fine.”

Youngjae waited until Jongup had left the room and re-shut the door before coming out of his hiding space. He filled up the space beside Daehyun – unsurprised to end up with a lap full of him – and wrapped his arms around his waist. “We’re okay.” Youngjae’s words were soft and broken apart, and his breathing was unsteady. He was shaking just the slightest bit, unlike Daehyun who was an earthquake. “Jongup said you have breathing exercises? To help you calm down?”

“Can I wash my hands just one more time first?” They shifted such that Daehyun was sitting between Youngjae’s legs with his back pressed up against his chest.

Youngjae’s arms were tight around his waist and his hands ran softly up and down his sides in a slow and gentle way. He pressed his face into the back of Daehyun’s shoulder. “I think you probably shouldn’t, lamb.” His eyelashes ran over the bite mark every time he blinked.

“But–”

“You know if you were sick, or if you were going to get sick, I’d be able to smell it, right?” He shifted his head up and it almost felt as if his lips ran over the scarred skin before he hooked his chin over Daehyun’s shoulder. There was a small pulse, a little pleasant electricity that Daehyun had come to associate with Youngjae being near the mark, as if his body was calling out to be bitten again. 

His shoulders slumped and he relaxed into Youngjae with the feeling in his neck. It was like he could feel the map of the scar exactly. He leaned back. He was trembling less. “Really?”

“Yeah, just like I can smell the adrenaline spike you’ve got going on. I can smell whether or not you’re healthy, and you are. You’re going to be fine. I promise.” Youngjae was near still by then, though his breathing remained uneven and unsteady.

“But it wouldn’t have been long enough yet, right? I wouldn’t be sick for another couple hours.”

“I can tell if you were going to get sick, too. My senses are so good that I smell the bacteria on your hands, and they’re fine. You won’t be getting sick.”

Daehyun outright laughed at that one. His sniffles interrupted the hiccupy chuckle, but when he turned his head slightly to look at Youngjae, they caught each other up in wide smiles. “Ok, now you’ve taken it too far and I know you’re lying.”

Youngjae scrunched up his nose and smiled for a moment before replying, “sh, believing me is easier, even if I’m making all of this up. Let’s just try the breathing thing, okay? We can do it together if you tell me what it is.”

“It’s– you breathe in, hold your breath, and breathe out all for the same amount of time. I’d start with three seconds and slowly work up to ten.”

“So breathe in for 3 seconds, hold your breath for three seconds, and then breathe out for three seconds?” Youngjae trailed his fingers up and down Daehyun’s side as he spoke. “And then after a certain number of times that’ll change to four seconds, then five, and on, until you feel calmer?”

Daehyun confirmed. 

“Alright, let’s try this together then. Just tap me whenever we’re going up a second.” He ran his fingers up Daehyun’s side slow enough to match the count of three, then hovered where they landed as they held their breath, and let them trail downward equally slow as they breathed out.

They barely made it through two rounds before Daehyun interrupted. “Could you actually tell if I was sick, though?”

Youngjae nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah, more by taste than by smell, but yes. I’d probably be able to taste the adrenaline, too, if I had drunk from you when you first came in here. Luckily, that one was easy to guess from your face, so you at least believed me at first.” He chuckled. “Let’s keep breathing. I hear Jongup making his way back up the stairs.”

They had just made it to seven seconds when the footsteps in the hallway reached them. The door creaked open and shut, with the lock clicking in place followed by the deadbolt. Perhaps Daehyun would have been nervous if Youngjae had seemed anything less than perfectly calm at the approaching footsteps. The bedroom door revealed Jongup soon enough, and he joined their embrace with an easy smile and even breaths. He laid more or less on top of Daehyun and rested his head on the shoulder that Youngjae’s chin wasn’t hooked over. 

“They’re gone,” said Jongup calmly. “They were fakes, weren’t they? Not real agents?”

“Definitely not,” Youngjae agreed. “That’s one of their more common ploys to get people to trust them. I didn’t– I haven’t done anything that would even… not even a normal police officer would be interested in me, much less the NIS.”

“You don’t have to defend yourself to us,” Daehyun mumbled back. “We know they’re just assholes. I mean if we both pulled the fake-asshole-boyfriend card instinctively upon meeting them, clearly we didn’t think….”

“I was surprised by how unlike you you sounded, Jongup,” mumbled Youngjae.

“Well, yeah. It’s just like… a character, I guess. Seunghyun wouldn’t let Himchan have any single guy friends, and he was even pretty weird about couples. So, I’d pretend to be Daehyun’s boyfriend and then I started to pretend like I was equally a dick, so that he’d trust me and we could still hang out with Himchan. Now it just kind of turns on automatically whenever I think someone is shitty.”

“It’s really impressive. I’m glad you can protect him, even when I can’t.”

It was silent for a long moment, as Daehyun worked from seven to ten. Jongup and Youngjae held him. Each was taking deep breaths. Jongup’s fingers drummed against Daehyun’s side, causing him to squirm. There was nothing playful about his expression to imply he had intended to tickle him. Rather, his brows were pulled tightly together with worry. “I-I’ve been curious… if it hurts…. I want to like you, Youngjae, but it’s all I can think about… that you might be hurting him….”

“If what hurts?” Youngjae asked.

Jongup looked away. “I don’t know that you want me to say it. I don’t want it to sound like I’m accusing you or anything, because if he trusts you and wants to help you then I don’t think you’re… but…”

“What are you saying?” Daehyun asked.

Jongup shifted. He lifted his head and freed one of his arms from around the both of them to run his fingers over the juncture of Daehyun’s neck and shoulder. It felt strange. Jongup’s lips were tightly drawn. “You might want to invest in some colored contacts, Youngjae.” The words were said without prompting. “Your eyes are getting really red.”

Both Daehyun and Youngjae’s mouths fell open, and they shared a wide-eyed look before Youngjae answered. “What…? These… are colored contacts?”

“Oh, come on. I’m not that dumb.” Jongup shifted again and ran his fingers over the other side of Daehyun’s neck, right up until it reached where Youngjae was resting his head. “I always wondered why there wasn’t an open wound, but I guess these little bumps are it?”

“You… do you–? I’m–” Youngjae stuttered.

“You’re a vampire,” Jongup filled in. “I know. I don’t really care as long as you aren’t hurting my friend.” He withdrew his hand from Daehyun’s neck.

“You know?” Daehyun shrieked. “How? When? What? How?”

“You guys seriously lived with me for a month and a half and didn’t think I noticed? I might be nearsighted, Daehyun, but I’m not blind,” said Jongup. His next word were quieter and his gaze had shifted to Youngjae. “Just tell me you aren’t hurting him and that he’s going to be okay at the end of this.”

Youngjae looked at him with a furrowed brow and blinked slowly as he stared him down. “There… There should be enough venom in his neck now that it shouldn’t hurt. Longterm, the only effects are that, for some people, it starts to feel good as the venom builds up. It won’t turn him, and it won’t hurt him. Even… eating… shouldn’t hurt him anymore, so long as I’m biting in the same spot.”

“Is that why it feels good whenever you get near the bite mark?” Daehyun asked.

Youngjae’s eyes were wide and sparkling as he recoiled and turned enough to meet Daehyun’s gaze. His mouth hung agape. “So–” His eyes flickered over to Jongup, briefly, his face turned red, and he turned back to Daehyun with a gulp. “Sweet rabbit, do you mean that?”

Daehyun nodded.

Youngjae broke out into a wide smile, his eyes crinkled up into crescents and his cheeks puffing out. “That’s… it’s not normal, persay, or more like, it’s not the most common thing, but it’s not a bad thing. It happens… and I think it’s a good thing for us.”

Jongup settled back down with them and shut his eyes. “No more worrying then. Everything is going to be okay.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!! I'm really excited for the next chapter >.>
> 
> [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)

The TV filled the background with white noise from some Netflix show they had both stopped paying attention to half an hour ago, but neither moved to turn it off. Daehyun’s eyes were closed, lips parted, as Youngjae’s combed his fingers through his hair. He had his feet propped up on the armrest and his head resting on Youngjae’s lap as he flirted with the idea of taking a nap. 

Youngjae was humming softly to himself, somewhat curled up, with one arm on the back of the couch that he rested his head on top of as he pet Daehyun with the other hand. “You seem really tired, rabbit,” he murmured. “You’ve been falling asleep all day. Maybe you should–”

“I’m fine,” Daehyun replied quickly.

Youngjae sighed. His hand stilled in Daehyun’s hair. “You’ve been working too much lately, and walking home that late at night is dangerous. It might be alright right now, but it’s October, by the end of the month it’ll be dark when you’re walking home. That’s not safe.” 

“I usually don’t get out until 8 am. What’s really going to happen at 8 am? The only reason it’s been earlier than that lately is because of shift manager’s new baby and the fact that the owner doesn’t give enough of a shit to actually check if we’re open.”

“What if some weird monster grabs you in the middle of the night and tries to drink your blood?” Youngjae tried to joke.

“Then I’ll just be saving him from starving to death,” Daehyun replied back. “I’m sure I have enough blood to share.’

“But–” Youngjae shifted a little in a way that almost seemed nervous– ”don’t actually let someone else drink from you, okay? I mean… you can if you want, I guess, I’m not saying– it’s not an ultimatum or anything, but it would be better if you didn’t.”

“Would you get jealous?” Daehyun laughed. “You can’t share your food with anyone else?”

Youngjae didn’t answer at first, and when Daehyun looked up at him, his face was red. “It’s not that I’d be jealous if you had that with someone else but… it wouldn’t be healthy and you said the bite mark felt good, so I just thought….” He looked away.

“You would be jealous!” Daehyun laughed. “I didn’t realize my blood meant that much to you.”

“I-It’s not that… don’t presume that I…. None of this is the point here, Daehyun. The point is that you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately when feeding me is already a strain on your body. Even if it’s not a lot of blood, constant, minor blood loss is already bad for you, and you haven’t been eating well which is bad for you, and also bad because it means I need to take more than I would normally, and you’ve been working long hours when you should be asleep. This isn’t about… anything like that… it’s about you being healthy. You should at least try to shift to working normal, daylight hours.”

“Third shift pays the best, and if I pick up an extra shift or two, that’s more money to send home. Things haven’t really been easy since Dad’s health scare. At least Himchan is staying in Busan until January to help out, but money is tighter than usual.”

Youngjae went back to playing with his hair. “You know if it’s a matter of money, I can help. We had all of it invested, so it’s grown with us– with me. I have more than enough to help out.”

“I don’t want to ask you for that.”

He dropped his arm from the top of the couch and shifted to sit a little straighter, careful not to jostle Daehyun’s head on his lap too much. That arm found its way over Daehyun’s chest as he looked down at him. “I know it wasn’t exactly what we agreed to at first, mouse, but you’re basically my human at this point. You have willingly become my sole food source. And if we accept that as reality, which it more or less is, then this is transactional. You feed me, and in return I pay you, and I’m… hasn’t it been six months now? I’m six months late on payments, then, from when this started in April onwards.”

“I don’t… want to think about it that way,” mumbled Daehyun. “I don’t want it to be like… like I’m selling part of myself to you. It was… to help you get back on your feet because you were sick. I don’t want you to owe me, to… hold it over you because I helped you out in a bad spot. I’m not going to charge you for needing help to get better.”

It was silent for a long moment, and when Daehyun looked up at Youngjae again, he was looking fully away. Daehyun sat up and turned. He pulled his knees under him as he sat facing Youngjae on the couch and pressed his chin to Youngjae’s shoulder, only for Youngjae to scoot farther away and shake him off. “If you’re really that worried, I could ask my boss to switch me to first shift, okay?”

“Fine,” Youngjae mumbled back.

The episode ended and a new one began. Youngjae turned to the screen and feigned watching it. With a sigh, Daehyun pulled his knees up and sunk into the couch. His attention turned to the program as well and they sat in silence. There was only a couple inches between them, yet neither crossed that gap.

It wasn’t until the brief gap between the autoplaying episodes after that one had finished that Youngjae spoke. “Was all of this really just helping me out of a bad spot? Nothing else?”

“Yeah, nothing else.” Daehyun tried to sound reassuring. “You don’t owe me anything. This is just helping someone because that’s what we’re supposed to do as people, help others. I don’t want your money– even if you decided tomorrow that you didn’t want to pay the rent for this place anymore, I would understand. I’m just here to help.”

“And you’re the best person in the whole world for it.” Youngjae replied dryly. There was no humor nor kindness in his tone, as if the words had been bitterly sarcastic.

The next episode played, and the next after that, and the whole time Youngjae kept his eyes on the screen and his lips tightly drawn. Daehyun turned to his phone when it buzzed with a text from Himchan. “I miss you,” it read, followed by a frowny face.

“Same,” he texted back, mirroring the frowny face. “But you’ll be back soon, right?”

“The first week of January!” Himchan texted back. “I finally told my boyfriend about it today.” Himchan had been putting off telling his new boyfriend about the move for about a month, afraid given how Seunghyun would have reacted to it. “He was really chill about it. He said he wanted to come with me!”

“That’s great!” Daehyun replied. “If you need a place to stay, Youngjae and I can suffer through sharing a room for a little while.” The second bedroom sat empty and unused, as it had been since they moved in.

“That would be great! But, his little brother is also moving up with us. I don’t know that you or Jongup have room for him too? Sorry, that’s a lot to ask for.”

“It’s totally fine!” Daehyun texted. “He can take the couch, if he doesn’t mind. Or Jongup’s couch, if five people and one bathroom sound like a nightmare to you guys.” He looked up from his phone and over to Youngjae. “Is it alright if Himchan, his boyfriend, and his boyfriend’s little brother stay with us in January?”

“Sure. I didn’t know the new boyfriend is moving too.” Youngjae replied.

“Yeah, I guess, from what Himchan has said about him, he isn’t from Busan and had just been travelling through when they met, so there wasn’t really a reason for them not to come.” His phone buzzed and he checked the screen before saying, “his brother said he’d stay wherever he was the least bother, so if it’s too much to take all three of them, Himchan will ask Jongup.”

“I mean we’ll see,” Youngjae shrugged. “Is the brother planning on getting an apartment with them?”

Daehyun texted Himchan about it, and replied, “Himchan says that it’s a solid ‘probably’. Apparently the two are really close and get kind of anxious to be away from one another for long periods of time because of some ‘really traumatic stuff that’s happened in the past’. So, I guess, he’ll probably want to be on our couch if he can be.”

“I don’t mind,” Youngjae said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be better and gone by then,” he grumbled to himself.

Daehyun didn’t hear him. He was back on his phone and reading the several long, gushy text messages Himchan was sending about this guy. “He’s literally the biggest softie, okay? Like, I know what you’re going to think when you meet him because he looks like my ‘type’ or whatever but he’s actually so sweet and thoughtful and caring. Also, he and his little brother are so cute together, you can tell they really rely on each other and care about one another. He’s also so smart and worldly? Like he’s been basically everywhere and he knows so much about art and history–” Himchan kept going, sending text after text.

As much as Daehyun was smiling and happy for his friend to have not only escaped a terrible relationship, but also that he had found what seemed to be a happy new one, worry had wormed its way into his heart. He turned back to Youngjae with his knee bouncing.

“You’re worried about something,” Youngjae observed. “What is it?” His whole demeanor softened from whatever coldness it had been before.

“When Himchan comes back… if his new boyfriend is also an abusive ass, could you scare him off?”

Youngjae sighed. “Himchan is an adult who can make his own decisions. If I just actively torment the guys he tries to date, that’s only going to alienate him from you and from Jongup. I’ve been alive long enough to know I can’t solve the world’s problems by throwing people into elevators, and that in cases like these, it’ll only make things worse. If his new boyfriend is an asshole, the best thing any of us can do is be there to support him and remind him that he deserves better, because he does.” He was cold again.

“It feels like it would save him a lot of pain to–”

“Trust me on this one, Daehyun. I’ve been alive a lot longer than you, and I’ve unfortunately dealt with this exact situation more times than I can count. One of my coven members more or less exclusively courted people who were complete assholes to him, and several of our coven’s humans had been in similar situations. Responding violently before they decide to leave their abusers will only serve as a means for the abuser to alienate your friend from you.”

“How old are you? Or how young do you think I am? Because I’m 22, Youngjae, you can’t have been alive that much longer than me that you could know thi–”

“I’ll be turning 398 next year,” replied Youngjae.

“Y– You… You’re…? Are you–  What? You’re, like, in your twenties though. Or… I guess… I thought the whole bit of lore that vampires don’t age was… just a little too impossible to believe… but you’re not joking, are you?”

“We age, just slower. I was sixteen when I was turned. I’m probably the same as a 24 year old human now. Even our minds age slower. I… knew some people – some adults – that had been turned as children… who, for instance, had been mentally and physically twelve years old for a little over half a century…. Although, they were turned a long time ago, before we knew better. Nowadays, people are wiser than to think they’ll want to parent a child for that long. Even for my own life, I was a teenager for about two centuries and it was… trying… to put it nicely, on those taking care of me.”

“And you in your four centuries of life are absolutely sure that you can’t just scare off any potential assholes my friends are dating?”

Youngjae shook his head. “An abuser will use anything they can to try to alienate their significant other from everyone else. They’ll take any even vaguely negative thing as a reason why the person they’re abusing should stop talking to their friends and family, because alienating someone such that you are their only support system is an incredibly easy way to control people. So just like you did the last time he was dating an abusive dick, your number one priority should be maintaining that friendship and maintaining a support system for your friend outside of their abuser. It’s not as easy as just throwing someone out of a window.”

Daehyun sighed and looked back to his phone with worry. “I don’t want to see him get hurt again.”

“I know how you feel. Just… trust him, okay? Trust that Himchan will be able to see the warning signs and get out of there. And, if we want to be a little suspicious, we’ll have however long they stay here to make sure it’s a good match,” reassured Youngjae.

Daehyun felt a little cold. It was rare to have a conversation like this without being close to Youngjae, but given his mood, Daehyun was hesitant to snuggle up to him. “Okay.”

Daehyun put his head on Youngjae’s shoulder again. That time, Youngjae didn’t move away, but he didn’t move to hold Daehyun either. Three more episodes played, totalling a whole hour, but Youngjae remained stiff throughout. As the season of the show ended, Daehyun sat up properly and paused the autoplay. “Youngjae,” he murmured. There was no response.

Seconds ticked by until Youngae was looking away from him again. Daehyun pressed a hand to his cheek and gently turned his head back to face him. Youngjae was blinking away tears and refused to meet Daehyun’s eyes properly. He looked up until the tears were gone, then his eyes dropped to his hands. Daehyun’s thumb ran across his cheek, but it did little to fill the silence between them. Youngjae fiddled with his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Daehyun asked. “You’ve seemed cold and kind of sad for a while. Is it about Himchan? Or me working? Or…?”

Youngjae didn’t look up, still fiddling with his fingers as he mumbled his reply, barely audible. “What you said before when we were talking about your family…. This was all just… charity to you, wasn’t it? Even after we moved here, even after the hunters came, even with the bite, it’s just… it was just helping me out of a bad spot, right? It was just about being a good person.”

“Yeah, of course. That’s what we agreed on when–” Daehyun wondered briefly if Youngjae was upset that Daehyun had refused his help.

“Should I leave then?” The question came suddenly, leaving Daehyun wide-eyed and confused. His hand dropped from Youngjae’s cheek to his own lap. His fingers drummed against his knee, a habit he had long ago picked up from Jongup, as he tried to understand what Youngjae was asking.

“What?”

Youngjae’s voice was a little more sure and a little colder when he replied. “Should I leave, Daehyun?” He asked again. “I’m better now. I’m not starving anymore. I’m not going to die. You saved me, and you’re a good person. You’ve proved it.” He almost sounded sarcastic when he talked about Daehyun being a good person, as if he was angry about something related to that notion. “So should I leave? Now that I’m healthy, am I overstaying my welcome? I’d hate to prey on your good graces until they wore thin.”

“You can’t… You’re…” Daehyun was at a loss for words. He gulped and reached for Youngjae’s fiddling fingers, only for Youngjae to pull his hands away. Daehyun met his resigned gaze. “If you leave, you’ll just starve again. What are you going to eat? Where are you going to stay? If the hunters are tracking you as effectively as they are then you can’t just–” He was trying to find any reason he could, desperately, clawing fruitlessly at a situation he didn’t understand.

Youngjae almost looked offended as he interrupted, saying, “so it’s still… you want me to stay, but it’s still just about… it’s just about being a good person, then? Nothing else, just… proving you’ve got a heart of gold or whatever.”

“It was never about proving anything! I just wanted to help you,” begged Daehyun.

Youngjae’s expression softened, however momentarily. “And you did. Thank you. But, I’m better now. I can function just like I used too. There’s no defending it, no pretending that I’m still starving, and no way for you to help me more than you did.” Then, like he had shaken that feeling off, like he had snapped out of some sort of stupor, he was back to being cold and frustrated. “Should I go? Have I begged enough charity from you? If it’s just about helping me, then surely you don’t want me to stay when I don’t need help anymore.”

“But you do!” He had a million thoughts of how Youngjae had no other food source, how he had nowhere to stay, and how if he left then in a year he would be right back to where he had been, but he didn’t have time to articulate any of them, or really to even form semi-coherent sentences, before Youngjae cut him off again.

“I don’t. And, I appreciate it, okay? I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But, if all of this has just been a random act of kindness to you… if… we’ve been sharing a living space and a bed – and I thought in the modern era that would mean – and it’s my own fault for assuming that. Maybe that’s not how things work anymore, but I just… I don’t think I can stay here if this is just an act of charity to you. I understand that this was my misunderstanding, that it was my own fault for making assumptions but I’ve… I can’t do this to myself.” 

Daehyun watched his nervous expression as he struggled to find the words he wanted to say and wondered aloud, “can’t do what to yourself?”

Youngjae looked up at him, the nervousness painful in his gaze. He gulped as he tried to find the right words. “I want you to be my prey, Daehyun, and if you don’t return that sentiment, I understand, but it won’t be healthy for either of us if I stay here. I can’t keep sharing an apartment with you if this charity and nothing else.”

His prey? Daehyun thought about what that must mean, only to settle clearly on their conversation hours earlier on how Daehyun was nearly what Youngjae referred to as ‘his human’ – which seemed to mean his primary, permanent food source. And maybe, Daehyun supposed, Youngjae was uncomfortable with their deal being so one-sided. Maybe, Daehyun thought, Youngjae was worried their arrangement – both feeding him and living together – wasn’t something mutual, that they both gained from, and that was why he was upset. He probably wanted to know Daehyun didn’t feel burdened by him.

“Oh… oh I see where… where this went wrong…. I don’t want you here just because I want to help you, Youngjae. It’s not just about saving you. I just… I was just trying to say that I didn’t want you to pay me or feel like you owed me anything. That’s all I meant by what I said. I like what we have with… with everything. I like having you here, with me. The living together, the sharing our space, sharing our–” he turned red as he said the word and backtracked quickly– “sharing a bed with you. It’s not… it’s not a savior complex, I want you here.”

When their eyes met again, both seemed quite unsure, but it didn’t stop Daehyun from reaching out to take Youngjae’s hand in his and rub his thumb against the back. Youngjae’s cheeks tainted the faintest pink as his mouth fell agape. “Does that mean… are you saying you feel… w-would you say yes, then, if I were to ask you to be my prey?”

“I thought I already was,” Daehyun mumbled back. Hadn’t Youngjae said he was more or less his human earlier? He was Youngjae’s only food source, and he had already consented to that. He had already agreed to a platonic relationship where Youngjae lived with him and also happened to feed from him. 

Then again, if Youngjae had really thought their situation was temporary, and that Daehyun had only been feeding him as an act of charity, his need to make the arrangement as clear a possible between them did make sense. It didn’t change Daehyun’s mind though. If Youngjae was asking him to be the only human that he drank from, then in Daehyun’s opinion, he had already agreed, and he would agree again if that’s what Youngjae needed him to do.

“Oh,” Youngjae’s face a turned a much pinker shade. He looked down with a lick of his lips and adjusted his clothing for a moment. When he looked back up at Daehyun, he pressed their foreheads together. Daehyun deflated like he always did at the familiar, platonic gesture, but Youngjae was still thrumming with energy. “Sorry. I suppose… I suppose this whole mess really was my misunderstanding then.” A shaky hand pressed to Daehyun’s cheek and his thumb rubbed over the highpoint of his cheekbone. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about what you were saying. I hadn’t… I feel like I should… still ask formally… would you be my prey, Daehyun?”

“I will,” Daehyun replied. If Youngjae was asking him to be the only human he fed from, Daehyun was perfectly fine with that. In his mind, Youngjae was a good friend and a good roommate, and if this was the one weird catch, he was already on board with it, and had been for six months.

Youngjae tilted his head forward. Their noses brushed together. Daehyun leaned into it, his eyes falling shut. Right as Youngjae neared his lips, Daehyun broke away, suddenly, cheeks just as red as Youngjae’s, and stuttered out, “I’m– I’ll–” He ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. His knees pulled up to his chest. His face buried in them. He tried to calm his breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you understand what I think is so funny towards the end of this chapter... you've galaxy brained lmao


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been so long since he thought he lost them, only for two men to show up at his door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter!!!! Please let me know what you think~

The sound of the shower played in the background like static on an old TV. Youngjae was singing to himself softly under the drums of water, faint through the door to the pair resting together on the couch. Jongup drummed his fingers against Daehyun’s thigh. His arm was low around Daehyun’s waist, with his hand just barely reaching the top of his thigh, while he scrolled through his phone with the other hand.

Daehyun was curled up against his chest and played with his own fingers. “It’s just been a little weird lately,” he mumbled into Jongup’s chest. “Ever since we established this as, like, a  permanent thing a couple months ago.”

“‘This’? Are you dating him?” Jongup asked.

“Keep your voice down,” Daehyun whispered. “His hearing is really good. I think with the shower we’ll be fine, but still….” He paused, listening for any hesitation in Youngjae’s song but finding none. He moved briefly to turn on the TV. He flipped to a soccer game and turned the volume up to hide their conversation. “We aren’t. I mean, we act like it but… no– we aren’t. He asked me– How do I even say this in a way that isn’t weird? He asked me to be his only food source long term.” 

“Weren’t you doing that already?” Jongup asked. “Or did he have a secret army of other guys also trying to keep him from starving?” He snorted.

Daehyun laughed too, before returning to his quiet and unsure tone. He snuggled against Jongup’s chest. “No, nothing like that, or… I don’t think there was anyone but me. I honestly sort of thought that’s what we were too, but I guess he thought it was temporary? So, back in October, we talked about that, and we agreed that he was going to stay here with me as my roommate and I would feed him forever, in return for the rent, I guess. He started paying for all of it once I agreed.”

“And you’re letting him?” 

“I don’t like it, but every time I try to talk about it with him, he gets upset. And I get why too. He has more reasoning than I do. Like, he has more than enough money which he doesn’t really use on anything, I am providing food for him and food usually costs money, and this was what they usually paid their humans back when he had a coven. That’s his logic. Mine is just that it feels bad to ask him to pay that much money every month.”

Jongup was silent for a long moment. His fingers resumed drumming on Daehyun’s knee. When he spoke, Daehyun had to turn the TV down just to hear him. “I think he’s right. If covering your half of rent is what he wants to pay you for feeding him, that sounds like a fair deal to me. I know you– it’s… it’d be better if you could let us all help you sometimes. You don’t have to save everyone, and you don’t have to do it all alone, either. I’m proud of you for letting him help you, and I’m sure Himchan will be too if you tell him.”

“Okay,” Daehyun mumbled. He turned his head to press his face into Jongup’s chest and mumbled into his shirt. “But ever since I said I’d be his ‘human’ or ‘prey’ or whatever, things have just been weird.”

“Weird how?” Jongup asked. He set down his phone on his knee and pet Daehyun’s head. “Is he doing something that makes you uncomfortable?”

Daehyun didn’t like the way Jongup stiffened. It was like he was suddenly ready for a fight. It was like he was thinking of Seunghyun, not Youngjae. “No. He’s been the same. He lets me cling to him. We share a bed because cuddling is nice. He’s a good friend, and a good roommate. But sometimes, when our faces get close, when he laughs, when he smiles so hard his eyes crinkle up, or when he’s just getting up in the morning and he has bedhead and is pouting about being awake, I want to kiss him.”

“Then kiss him?” Jongup said. “Just ask first? I’m sure even if he says no, he wouldn’t be weird about it. It’s not like he’s been weird about Himchan being gay.”

“But he’s 400 years old! Things were different back then. What if… what if he has some internalized thing against gay people? What if he’s one of those people that doesn’t care unless a guy likes him? And he’ll hate me if he realizes I like him like that? And, didn’t people back then not kiss unless they were married? We’re not even dating! What if he thinks I’m a whore or something? What if it ruins everything?”

“I’m sure he’s not stuck back in the 1600s, Daehyun. He watches TV and stuff. And, if you just want to mess around with him, what does it really matter? The worst case scenario is just that he decides to move to the other bedroom.”

“I want to be with him,” Daehyun’s voice was so soft that Jongup knew the words only by the movement of his lips. “I don’t think we can be right now, like this, but I want to be his.”

Youngjae stopped singing. The water stopped. Jongup typed on his phone and showed the text to Daehyun, “you can’t be serious? You haven’t wanted to date anyone in years? And why wouldn’t you be able to right now?” Daehyun took the phone, deleting the text, but it took a long time for him to type a reply.

“I mean it. I want to date him. But, I don’t think he wants to be with a human. Why would he? I’ll be old before he even starts looking like he’s 25,” Daehyun typed.

Jongup started to type a response, but the door to the bathroom opened before he could, and he quickly closed the app. 

“Any word from Himchan on when they’ll get here?” Youngjae asked as he dried his hair. He was standing in the doorway, with a plume of steam billowing around him and the fan running behind him. He padded over to them, settling on Daehyun’s far side with the towel on his head. 

Daehyun sat up and lowered the TV volume. He put his feet up on the couch as he reached over towards him. Taking the towel in his own hands, he dried Youngjae’s hair for him with gentle and slow fingers. He smiled to himself when Youngjae’s eyes fell shut and he leaned into the gesture. His shoulder brushed against Daehyun’s chest.

“Not long,” replied Daehyun. “The last time I checked, they had made it into the city and were just trying to navigate through traffic.”

When he finished drying Youngjae’s hair, he sat back. Jongup pulled him by the waist to lean against him. Youngjae wandered back to the bathroom to hang up his towel before rolling backwards onto the couch such that his feet were on the floor but his head was in Daehyun’s lap.

“Do we know either of their names?” Youngjae asked.

“Not really,” said Daehyun, “it if he ever sent me them, I don’t remember.” He ran his hair carefully through Youngjae’s damp hair. He closed his eyes, relaxing between the two of them. “Either way our pile is going to get significantly larger.”

“Himchan’s boyfriends are rarely cuddly,” countered Jongup.

“But they’re usually like you were when we first met,” Daehyun replied. “They don’t necessarily incite a lot of cuddling, but when pulled into the pile, they don’t mind it, either. And knowing Himchan, he will be pulled into the pile.”

“I can’t believe we’re having a serious discussion about everyone cuddling on the couch,” Youngjae snorted. “If all three of them join, we won’t all fit.”

“We’ll find a way,” replied Daehyun. His phone buzzed. “Hold on, Himchan is calling. Hello? … Oh, awesome. Do you need any help bringing things up? You sure? All three of us are he– ok. Yeah. See you soon.” He hung up and smiled up at Jongup. “They’re here. Himchan said they only need a pair or two of extra hands, so we should go down.”

Youngjae stood up, only for Daehyun to grab onto his wrist. “What? I can help.”

Jongup and Daehyun both seemed to disagree equally at the same time. “You shouldn’t push yourself. You’re still getting better and it’s really cold out,” Daehyun insisted. “Besides, if you stay then I don’t need to worry about bringing a key down.”

Youngjae let out a harsh sigh and glared. “I’m fine–”

“Just rest,” Jongup requested. “We’ll get it.”

The two boys pulled on their shoes and bundled up to brave the cold January air, given that the parking garage only had half walls on each level. The padded around the garage quietly, following the voices they heard until they found a pair of men surrounded by suitcases and bags. “Himchan!” Daehyun shouted with excitement. He took off running, and was caught up in Himchan’s arms. “Happy new year. I’m so glad you’re back.”

“I missed you too,” Himchan laughed, holding him tightly.

He let go in favor of hugging Jongup. Daehyun met eyes with the man standing awkwardly nearby. He definitely looked like Himchan’s type, a similar height, a somewhat cold but handsome face, and somewhat quiet. Daehyun tried his best to not be actively suspicious.

Himchan let go of Jongup to look between the two of them. “Okay, it’s cold, let’s get everything upstairs and then we’ll do introductions and all, yeah? Junhong is going to be a couple minutes–” he gestured to the car, where someone was sitting and faintly speaking on the phone, “he had to leave his puppy with a friend until we find a place and apparently they lost all of the instructions he gave them.”

“Sure,” they both agreed. Loading themselves up with everything but a suitcase and a backpack, which Junhong called out that he would take when he came up, they made their way back into the apartment building. 

With red cheeks and noses, heavy breaths, and bright smiles, they managed their way up the stairs to Daehyun’s floor and then down to the end of the hall. “Welcome to my place,” Daehyun said brightly. “You guys can stay as long as you need to, it’s no trouble.” He brought them in, putting his bags down and standing by the couch where Youngjae was still sitting. Jongup did the same, while Himchan and his boyfriend remained in the doorway after they put their things on the ground.

Youngjae looked up at the pair, only to freeze. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. Himchan’s boyfriend shared his gaze, his jaw tight and tears building up in his eyes. Neither said a word, and so Himchan, with his eyes focused on Jongup and Daehyun instead, didn’t seem to notice.

“So, everyone this is my boyfriend Yongguk. Yongguk, these are my best friends Jongup and Daehyun,” he pointed to each of them as he said their names, “and Daehyun’s roommate–”

“Youngjae,” Yongguk breathed before Himchan could say the name. His voice was deep but barely there. It was the faintest wave crashing in the far distance. The pain it carried silenced the room.

“Yongguk,” Youngjae replied. His voice went high and broken. Tears had welled up in his eyes. They fell, but Youngjae did not hide his face. He rubbed his sleeve under one eye, sniffling. His eyes never left Yongguk. “You’re– You’re–” He sobbed, unable to speak but unable to look away. When Daehyun reached out to him, it was like he didn’t notice. It was like he was unaware as Daehyun’s hand was woven into his hair and his other wiped away his tears.

“Youngjae, what’s wrong?” He whispered, but received no answer.

Yongguk was not much better. His face had grown red and tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. He was unmoving. His mouth hung agape. The words he tried to find were lost to the silence of his voice.

Himchan, Jongup, and Daehyun all looked between the three with furrowed brows. Himchan had moved to stand a little closer to Yongguk. Jongup had placed himself between the two, chest puffed out just the slightest bit while he was wracked with the same worry as Daehyun. Daehyun was the only one to voice that worry they all shared. “How do you know each other? Are you… are you like him? Or are you a hunter?”

“We won’t let you hurt him,” Jongup said.

Himchan and Daehyun shared a look. Both had their eyebrows furrowed and their jaws set. Neither could speak as they shared that unsteady gaze. One of complete horror and fear of who the other may have brought into the apartment. It was silent. It was tense. It was still.

All until the situation broke. All until Youngjae unwove himself from Daehyun. All until he ran into Yongguk’s arms.

“Dad,” he whimpered, “I thought you were–” He was crying. 

Suddenly, there was sound again. The cars resumed driving outside. Their were footsteps up and down the staircase. Some kids were playing loudly nearby. Daehyun’s breaths were quick and heavy, while Himchan’s were unsteady. Jongup’s fingers were drumming against the side table. The TV hummed quietly in the background.

“I thought you were, too,” Yongguk mumbled back.

“Did he just call him ‘Dad’?” Jongup hissed at Daehyun. He didn’t receive an answer.

Youngjae shook his head, burying it further into Yongguk’s shoulder. “It was Jaebum’s birthday the night before. He got me drinking, so I couldn’t drive home that night. By the time I had woken up and made it back, the hunters had left. Everyone was already–” Youngjae hiccuped and sobbed into his shoulder. His arms tightened around Yongguk’s shoulders as he sucked in ragged and uneven breaths.

“We barely made it out,” Yongguk replied. “They… they got Junhong, he was bleeding out. I had to carry him out. I had to… to save him even if he wanted to wait a couple more years before turning…. He’s– It was… too much….”

“Junhong?” Youngjae asked quietly, hope in his tone.

A voice came from the doorway as someone rounded it. “Um, hi, sorry about–” He dropped his bags. The tall, fit boy in the doorway looked unsteady and confused about the room he had just entered. “Yongguk, what’s–?”

Youngjae picked his head up from Yongguk’s shoulder. His eyes went wide as a fresh set of tears streaked down his cheeks. “Junhong,” he breathed.

Junhong had no answer at first. He stood there with a blank expression and his mouth agape. He looked between the other four people in the room as if someone would spring into an explanation, but his eyes always returned to Youngjae. He started crying too.

“You’re… turned. I thought– how did you–” Youngjae asked in a soft tone.

“I’m dreaming,” Junhong replied, as if Youngjae hadn’t said anything at all. “It’s– he’s not real, is he, Yongguk?” He pinched himself once and winced. He pinched himself again, as if expecting at any point for the pain to stop and his notion of it being a dream to be confirmed. His hands were shaking as he took a weak, shaky step forward.

Youngjae barely pulled away from Yongguk’s arms before wrapping himself around Junhong. “Pinch me, I’m sure I’m dreaming too,” he joked through choked sobs.

Yongguk didn’t let go of him, even as Junhong’s arms wove around his middle tightly and the two shared him sandwiched between them. Youngjae’s back was pressed to Yongguk’s chest and his hands were balled up in Junhong’s shirt. Yongguk swayed the three of them, all hiccuping and crying to each other in soft, whimpery tones.

“How?” Youngjae barely choked out.

Junhong shook harder and Yongguk grew stiff. They were silent for so long that it seemed an answer would never come.

“We shouldn’t talk about this with the door open.” Himchan eventually broke the silence. At his word, Daehyun and Jongup seemed to realize they were both in the room as well, not just confused onlookers in a dream, and moved accordingly. Jongup quickly pulled the bags away from the door and shut it. He locked it behind them before turning to the mess of bags on the floor, his jaw set and eyes down in a way both Himchan and Daehyun recognized to be his discomfort in an unfamiliar situation.

Himchan pulled Yongguk away from Youngjae with gentle but prying hands, then helped him out of his coat. He spoke softly as he got Yongguk down to a much more normal amount of clothing for inside, murmuring, “let me just get your coat, okay? Good, good. And you’re hat and gloves, I’ll put them in your coat pocket. Do you want to sit down? Babe, you’re breathing really hard. The couch is right there, I think you should sit down. We’re right here. We’re all with you. We won’t go anywhere, so just go sit down and take some deep breaths, okay? We can all come sit with you if you want, or we can give you some space.”

“No space,” Yongguk whispered back before wandering over to the couch on shaky legs. 

Himchan pulled Junhong away from Youngjae next, with the same goal in mind. “Let’s just get your coat off Junnie, okay? After you can go sit with Gukkie on the couch.” Junhong was nearly deadweight in his arms, sobbing without motion as Himchan held him up. Jongup eventually came to help him remove Junhong’s coat and beanie because it was too much for Himchan to handle on his own. 

At the same time as Junhong had been pulled away from Youngjae, Daehyun had noticed the way Youngjae was quaking and how he swayed once he had let go of him. “Youngjae, you look like you’re going to faint. Come on, let’s sit down. I don’t want you to get hurt,” he murmured. 

Youngjae didn’t respond. His mouth was still hanging the slightest bit open as he stared between Yongguk on the couch and Junhong deadweight against Himchan. He wasn’t crying as hard as Junhong, but he was certainly crying and shaking all the same. He turned to Daehyun with that sad and confused look, only to gulp and take a shaky step towards him. “They’re–” he hiccuped– “alive. They’re not–” he choked on his own word.

Daehyun pressed his forehead against Youngjae’s and pet his still damp hair. “They’re right here, Jae. I’m right here too. We can go sit with Yongguk if you want, okay? But if it’s too much and you need a moment, we can stay here or go into the bedroom together and just breathe a bit, okay?” Youngjae’s breath was quickening little by little as he sobbed. “Do you remember the breathing thing I do when things get too much for me? Why don’t we try that together, okay? Tell me what number you want to start with, and we’ll do it together.”

“Five,” Youngjae mumbled.

Daehyun nodded against him, letting his hands drop to Youngjae’s sides. “Okay, let’s start from five. Tap me when you think you can go up a number, okay?”

Junhong was shaking and sobbing without stop. He didn’t move and just fell like dead weight against whoever was holding him. There was a raised, jagged scar in the shape of teeth marks on his arm. Slowly, Himchan and Jongup coaxed him over to the couch, where he curled up against Yongguk and sobbed into his shoulder.

Daehyun’s fingers ran up Youngjae’s side as they breathed in, gentle and slow to match the count of five. They rested on his ribs as they held their breath for five more seconds, and trailed slowly down until the final count of five was met.

Jongup sat down on the armchair. After giving a soft peck to Yongguk and Junhong’s heads, Himchan settled on his lap, giving room to the two crying men.

Daehyun and Youngjae stood for a couple minutes longer with their foreheads pressed together and Daehyun’s fingers trailing up and down Youngjae’s sides to the time of their breathing. Once Youngjae had evened out and begun crying a little less, he pulled away from the embrace. “Thanks, rabbit,” he mumbled. He held Daehyun’s hand as he went over to the couch, though he settled on Yongguk’s lap. 

Daehyun, unphased, sat next to them and murmured to Youngjae that he was there if Youngjae needed him.

Yongguk’s mouth hung slightly agape as he looked past Youngjae and Junhong to Daehyun, like he was trying to find the words to a question he didn’t know how to ask. After a long moment, he seemed to snap out of it, to realize the two boys now crying on his shoulders, and to realize his own tears as well. Yongguk put one arm around Junhong’s shoulders, and the other around Youngjae’s waist. “We’re here,” he breathed. “We made it, and we’re together again. No matter who we lost–” he choked and needed a moment before he could continue– “no matter what we’ve gone through, the three of us are here now.”

“And we’ve found others to take care of us. A new family, amongst some of the old,” Youngjae choked out.

“They both know then?” Yongguk asked. “Himchan does. He’s been feeding both of us, even though that’s a strain on his health.” There was a beat of silence, one where Youngjae, Daehyun, and Jongup all turned to Himchan in shock.

Jongup was the one to break that beat of silence. “I can feed one of you… I guess? I haven’t done it before but… I don’t want Himchan to get….” He trailed off, as if unsure of the results of Himchan giving too much blood.

“So he knows. And I assume Daehyun does too?”

“He’s my prey,” mumbled Youngjae. “He has been since October 9th. I… I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t be here without him.” He took a deep breath and stole a glance over to Daehyun. He looked away shortly after. “I never expected to see you again.”

“We’re all here now,” promised Yongguk, “with a new family too.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a long time since he had had Youngjae to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!~ Also if you come up with any fun nicknames that follow the things in this chapter lmk lol
> 
> Here's me other places: [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)

It had been a long time since he had had Youngjae to himself. There had been, for the longest time, a buzz about the apartment as five to six people ran around within, with Jongup even staying over whenever he could because he didn’t want to be left out.

He hadn’t realized how hard it would be for him to give up the space around Youngjae, how difficult it was to take a step back and let him be absorbed by someone else until there was someone else taking up that space next to him. He wondered often if Youngjae was struggling with the same things when Daehyun was taken up by Himchan, but he could never tell. All he knew was that he’d sometimes catch Youngjae staring when he was curled up in Himchan’s lap.

At night they were more curled against each other than normal. Under an endless number of warm covers with Daehyun wrapped up more in fuzzy socks and warm sweaters, Youngjae was always in something much lighter because the covers coupled with Daehyun’s body heat was more than enough for him. He’d hold Daehyun tightly to his chest all night and Daehyun almost always returned with his arm around Youngjae’s middle. There were a few nights where they’d spoon instead, something much more normal for the pair of them, but more often than not that rare time spent together, more or less only when they were asleep, was spent clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it.

It took Yongguk, Himchan, and Junhong nearly two weeks to detangle themselves from the others and fully move into their new apartment. Even though their lease started February 1st, there was always a reason to stay ‘just one more night’ in Daehyun and Youngjae’s apartment, something that lasted until February 13th.

The day before, Daehyun had went over to Jongup’s after working the morning shift, rather than going home like he normally would. “It’s too crowded,” was all he had mumbled as he flopped onto Jongup’s couch.

Jongup, ever with that easy attitude, just flopped down with him and let Daehyun hide his face in his chest. “I mean, they’re almost gone, at least? Isn’t tomorrow their last day with you?”

Daehyun nodded against his chest, just a little. “Everything has been moved or arrived or been built at their new place as of today. They’re staying over tonight and leaving in the evening tomorrow, just to give everyone time to say goodbye.”

“You guys all know they only live down the block, right? You can see each other whenever.”

“Yeah, that’s where I’m at,” mumbled Daehyun. He lifted his face up to look at Jongup. “I think Himchan’s at that point too. But for the others? I guess, it makes sense. They’ve been through a lot. Thinking they were dead for over a year is a lot to get over. I get it.”

“You just don’t like it,” Jongup observed.

“I’m being selfish,” Daehyun replied. “Youngjae’s spending a lot of time with Yongguk and Junhong and I get it. I do. I understand and I’m not bitter. But I miss him. So much, Jongup. Is it weird to miss someone I see every day? We literally sleep in the same bed every night and it’s cold so he’s been extra clingy, but…” He frowned as he trailed off.

“Maybe it would be weird coming from someone else, but from you? I’m not surprised.” Jongup laughed, no malice in it.

It was silent for a long moment. The room buzzed around them but neither found words to say until a small, quiet thought worked its way out of Daehyun’s heart. “I need to get Youngjae to turn me soon. I can’t keep going on being in love with him like this, with no chance he’d feel the same way. Every day, this stupid ache in my heart just gets worse and worse.”

“Do you have to be like him?” Jongup asked. “Are you sure you need to be turned for him to date you?”

“We’ve been cuddling and I’ve been close to kissing him for months and it means nothing to him. He clearly likes me back in some way, if he were willing to date me as a human, it would have happened already. We would already be dating. So, it’s gotta be the fact that I’m human.”

“Definitely,” Jongup sounded unconvinced.

“Well what would you have me do, then?” Daehyun shot back. “Why else would this thing we probably almost definitely both want to happen not happened yet? Yongguk’s pulled me aside already to be like ‘he really likes you so don’t hurt him’, so? I just wanna kiss him and be with him and love him so bad and I don’t know how to fix this mess.”

“Maybe just give it time?” 

“You don’t like the idea of me turning,” Daehyun realized.

Jongup looked down. Daehyun gave him time to organize his thoughts. Eventually, Jongup did return with something coherent. “Right now we have a one-to-one human-vampire ratio and that’s good because none of us are giving that much blood. But, you and Himchan are both talking about being turned so that you can spend eternity with your vampire boyfriends or would-be-boyfriends which would leave only me to feed all five of you, and also I’d get old and die and you’d all have fun in eternity without me.” He said the last clause as fast as he could, embarrassed.

“Oh,” Daehyun breathed. “Yeah, practically, you’re right. No one should be turned until we’re certain we have enough humans to feed all of us. Yongguk was talking about reaching out through the network of vampires he knows to find people, so we can all wait until then.”

“And then you five can spend forever without me,” Jongup grumbled under Daehyun’s words.

“How could you possibly think you’re not included in our forever, Jongup? I don’t wanna keep living for centuries upon centuries if I don’t have you and Himchan by my side, and I’m sure Himchan would say the same thing. Just because we’re coupling up doesn’t mean we value you or your friendship any less, okay? I never meant to make you think you were left out of this. When we have the people to feed us and the vampires agree to turn us, that ‘us’ includes you, or I’ll stay human too, okay?”

“Even if it means losing Youngjae?”

“Jongup, I’ve known you since we were teenagers. I like Youngjae, sure, but I’ve barely know him a year, if that. I… I’m not going to prioritize a possible romantic relationship over one of my best friends, okay? That’s not how this works for me.”

Jongup nodded, his lips pulled into a tight line. “Why is this stuff always so stupid and confusing.”

“Mostly because you’re aromantic?” Daehyun replied. “Just remember that you’re just as important to us, both Himchan and I, as anyone we like romantically. Honestly, probably more given how long we’ve known each other. If I do get Youngjae to turn me so I can try to woo him, I’m taking you with me.”

“I still don’t think you need to be a vampire though. I think, maybe, you cuddle with him and it might feel like you get close to kissing, but maybe he doesn’t see that? Maybe you could try actually telling him your feelings?”

“I’m really not ready for that.” Daehyun mumbled. “I need… time to prepare myself for living with him if he rejects me first, and that’s a lot of time. That’s a hard thing for me to do….”

“Could you try, like, being more obvious about liking him? Like… flowers? Are flowers romantic? What… you really should be talking to someone else about this, but I’m just saying that I think you’re doing that thing where you assume you know what’s going on so you never stop to clarify or talk about what’s going on and end up being wrong….”

“Hey! I know exactly what’s going on. For the flowers, it would depend on what he likes. I could talk to Yongguk or Junhong about it maybe? In theory Yongguk’s know Youngjae for nearly his whole life and Junhong grew up with Youngjae being a part of his family so… I could ask one of them for advice?”

“That’s probably better than rushing into this,” Jongup agreed. “I don’t think we even know everything about what being a vampire entails yet, and I’m not sure this lack of dating is a species thing.”

“I mean, I’m just saying, I wouldn’t want to enter a serious relationship with someone whose lifespan moves like, fifty times quicker than mine. A week goes by and they’ve gone from 20 to 70? That’s… I mean if I really liked them but… I could definitely see why he wouldn’t date a human, and if nothing else works, then that’s got to be the explanation,” Daehyun insisted.

He and Jongup had argued about it for longer, but he was shook from that memory of the day before by Youngjae’s arm around his shoulders. He didn’t need to think about it to curl himself up against him and rest his head on his shoulders. His knees rested on Youngjae’s lap with his feet pulled up and he closed his eyes. His whole body relaxed. “You’re back,” he mumbled. When he had gotten back from work, the apartment had been empty.

“We finished building everything officially. Again. I don’t think there are any more forgotten boxes at this point, but if so, I say we wipe our hand of it and let them go on their own.”

“Definitely,” Daehyun murmured back. “Are they coming over again or are they officially moved out?” He pushed up against Youngjae as he shifted around into a more comfortable position, and Youngjae replied by petting his hair gently.

“They’re out to buy us food, last I heard,” Youngjae murmured back. There was some comfort in the softness of his voice and the stillness of their apartment.

“Is it weird if I say I missed you?” Daehyun looked up at Youngjae as best as he could and Youngjae returned as much as he could in the odd position they were in. They couldn’t quite see one another properly, but both appreciated the gesture of the other trying.

“Only if it’s strange for me to return the sentiment, love. Even then, I’m going to miss them, too.”

Daehyun smiled, shifting around again as he tried to get a little closer to him. “They’ll be close,” he promised, “you’ll be able to see them as often as you like. I know it’s difficult.”

“I’m… it’s…” Youngjae always struggled to speak about them and how their situation came to be.

“It’s okay,” Daehyun promised. “You don’t need to tell me anything, okay? I promise, I’m not sitting here expecting a full story from you, ever, at all. I’m not going to ask you to relive any of that just to satisfy my own curiosity. I’m here if you do wanna talk about it, but I’m also here if you don’t, always.”

Youngjae didn’t answer and that was alright. What was more than alright was the way his arms suddenly curled with strength, once loose, around Daehyun and pulled him close. Youngjae’s face dug into his shoulder. Daehyun returned the hug and waited with baited breath until Youngjae relaxed. But Youngjae pulled away, suddenly, and pulled at Daehyun until he lifted his head as well. “What?” He mumbled.

“I’m on the wrong side of your neck,” Youngjae replied with a small, sheepish smile, causing Daehyun to chuckle and entertain the notion that they need to switch sides. Yet, with Youngjae’s face against the bite mark there was a slight flutter in his chest, just the inkling of a good feeling he had come to know well. “I might be a little peckish,” Youngjae murmured against the skin.

“I ate not too long ago. I’m all yours,” replied Daehyun.

He could feel those sharp, familiar fangs come into place and felt the bite mark practically sing for them, like a bird sings for its mate. The sound he made was not out of pain when those fangs sank into the mark on his neck which was just beginning to rise from repeated bites. It resided somewhere in the back of his throat, caught up by closed lips as he tried to contain it but he knew what it was. He knew what that noise meant as much as he tried to avoid acknowledging it.

Wanting to kiss Youngjae was one thing.

That noise was an entirely other thing. A thing he did not have the time, energy, or mental capacity to think about as blood slowly drained from his neck.

It was weird to say he missed that moment as well – that moment in specific when Youngjae’s arms would be tight around him and his teeth deep in his neck. The entire situation was strange and out of the ordinary, but Daehyun had stopped trying to question why he felt a certain way, only worried about what to do about it. He played with Youngjae’s hair, relaxed and mellowed by the feeling of Youngjae’s teeth in his neck.

He had checked the mirror more times than he could count since the bite mark had started to raise into a scar. At first it had worried him, prompting more and more checking until he would pull the skin raw or Youngjae would come to hold him until he could calm down. Since then, gradually, it had shifted to amazement as he notices how it formed.

It wasn’t some ugly, raised, jagged scar with no sense or pattern. It was exactly Youngjae’s fangs as they stood, as if he had hit the same spots in the same way every time. Daehyun had started to think he might like the way it looked if they scar grew just a bit more, to show the full and perfect imprint of Youngjae’s teeth. He knew it was weird, all of it was, really. He almost felt entitled to be weird in such a weird situation.

Some part of him just liked being marked.

Some part of him just liked how it made him feel like he was Youngjae’s.

It felt intimate in a way it hadn’t before. From the way they held each other to the look Youngjae would give him when he pulled away. He’d always spend time making sure the wound healed with careful laps of his tongue. Even that had become normal and intimate to Daehyun.

It was why seeing Junhong feed of Jongup for the first time had been so strange. What had become an intimate and familiar tradition for him with someone he liked more than he could put to words, was to them an awkward and uncomfortable moment in which each was trying their hardest not the infringe on the other’s space or being. Even with warning that it was coming, an explanation of why, and his own full and informed consent, Jongup had still physically cringed away when Junhong licked him.

But it was important to continue nonetheless. The venom not only healed the wound, it helped stop infections and aided in the pain stopping.

That was all before, those were all things that Daehyun didn’t need to think about with Youngjae’s fangs withdrawing from his neck. His tongue lapped over the raised mark in that same slow, careful way. When Youngjae pulled away fully, it was to press their foreheads and the lengths of their nose together, both with their eyes closed, in a silent and still moment. Their lips were so close and Daehyun felt longing worm its way into his heart, begging for a kiss that never came.

They didn’t pull away until the sound of keys jangling together came from outside the door. It was then that they pulled away just enough to be suitable in public, with Youngjae’s arm around Daehyun and Daehyun leaning against him.

They came in with food and with Jongup, the four of them loud and excited and they spoke. Daehyun and Youngjae tried not to break apart for as long as the could, but it happened regardless. They ate, all separated but chatting about nothing in particular and then, with Jongup and Himchan cuddling and Youngjae’s attention on a conversation with Yongguk in progressively older language that left them near unintelligible to the others, Daehyun sidled up to Junhong.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he murmured.

Junhong looked a bit confused. Daehyun glanced over to Youngjae, a bit longingly, before returning to Junhong with a hope of explaining himself. By the time he looked back, Junhong seemed to have it figured out. “Should we take a walk then?” He whispered back. He glanced over briefly to Youngjae before looking back to Daehyun.

“It’s probably better if we do,” Daehyun agreed. “There’s a park on the next block, if you’d want to wander over there for a bit.”

“Sounds good.” At that point, Youngjae and Yongguk had both spared them the occasional confused glance, not yet caught on but certainly suspicious, and Junhong whispered low enough that Daehyun and the other vampires would hear, but Himchan and Jongup would not, “thank you for helping me with the whole Jongup situation. I appreciate you talking to him for me.”

Daehyun didn’t know how to respond, but Junhong had pulled away and wandered to the door, pulling on his coat and shoes, so he didn’t. “We’re going out for a walk. See you in a bit.”

He got ready and they made their way downstairs and down the block in silence.

Once they had reached the park and were wandering towards a bench, Daehyun asked, “what was that thing you said about helping you with Jongup?”

“Nothing,” Junhong replied. “Youngjae and Yongguk could hear us and they were starting to look at us like we were plotting some secret rendez-vous. I figured it would be best if they thought we were going to talk about something going on between me and Jongup, rather than that you wanting to discuss…?”

“I was wondering if you could give me some advice,” Daehyun requested. His voice was soft and nervous and he stared straight ahead at the park rather than looking over to Junhong. 

“Advice about what?” Junhong didn’t sound apprehensive, but rather knowing. When Daehyun dared a glance over, Junhong was there with a glint in his eyes and a mischievous smile. After a moment, it faded in favor a good-natured grin as he leaned against Daehyun.

Daehyun returned the pressure, and let his head fall to Junhong’s shoulder. “I think I like Youngjae a lot more than he likes me, and I’m not sure what to do about that.”

Junhong snorted. “I wouldn’t believe that, Daehyun. I think he likes you a lot more than you know. He asked you to be his prey, after all, didn’t he? He hasn’t asked anyone to be his prey in centuries, so clearly you’re pretty special to him.” He would lean in close and whisper the word ‘prey’ every time he said it, likely a precaution in case anyone was eavesdropping, but it gave the conversation the same sort of feeling as a pair of middle schoolers whispering about their crushes during recess.

“Do you really think so? It’s not just because he thinks I taste particularly good?” He maybe should have whispered that, but Junhong’s reaction probably helped project a different meaning.

That question had Junhong laughing so hard and so wholeheartedly that eventually Daehyun joined in, supposing it must have been silly of him to think that. “I know he does,” Junhong promised. “When you were out at work the other day, you should have heard him. He wouldn’t have shut up about you. I think he’s worried about the same thing though.”

“What thing?”

“I think he’s worried he likes you more than you like him. I know he’s trying to keep positive about it, but it seems like it was bother him a bit, like it’s bothering you. He was asking Himchan for advice about you too.”

Daehyun pulled away from him so he could meet Junhong’s somewhat uncomfortable gaze, his own eyebrows furrowed as he tried to process what he had been told. “What kind of advice?”

“Um,” Junhong’s face turned a little pink and he turned forward towards the park as he responded, “h-he… he thought I couldn’t hear, just by the way. I was eavesdropping, so don’t get… if this was something you weren’t ready for me to know, then blame me for finding out, not him. He didn’t tell me.”

“Didn’t tell you what?”

Junhong visibly gulped. “So he mentioned that you had OCD.” When Daehyun’s shoulders slumped and he took on an easy smile, Junhong was able to relax, but still said, “again, he didn’t tell me, I was eavesdropping.”

Daehyun shook his head a little. “I don’t mind. It’s not a secret; I’m not about to be embarrassed by my mental health. Was the advice just about that?”

“Well, he… he wanted to know if the reason you two hadn’t kissed yet was an OCD thing. Like, if kissing was one of the things that could trigger you, and if so, was it a permanent thing? Should he ask you about it or just give you time? Was it okay for him to bring up things like that or would it make you uncomfortable? And so on. He just wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to make you uncomfortable by prying to much, I think.” Junhong slumped back against the bench as he spoke and Daehyun leaned against him.

“So he wants to kiss me too? And the reason he hasn’t yet is because he was worried that it would trigger me to start doing compulsions?”

“Yeah. You said… ‘too’... so you’re both being dumb then? What’s the problem on your end?”

“He’s 400 years old,” whispered Daehyun.

“398. And it’s not like he’s actually much more than 24. Mentally and physically,” Junhong whispered back, his lips pulled into a slight frown.

“Okay, yeah, sure. It’s not the actual age that weirds me out. I’m cool with him being technically an old man in life experience and nothing else. Maybe not even if his memory is bad, which we both know it is.” Daehyun waved his hand as he whispered. He figured it wasn’t as weird as some age gaps, where the age actually showed. “But, things were different back then, right? People didn’t kiss each other or do  _ more _ than kiss each other unless they were married. And guys couldn’t be together, and everyone thought gay people were evil or something, and–”

“Chill,” Junhong chuckled, “gay people weren’t invented in the 1960s. Youngjae has spent the past 398 years being incredibly bi, and never had a problem with it before.”

“You’re sure?” Daehyun’s voice returned to a normal volume.

Junhong’s voice did as well. “I’m absolutely sure.”

“But will he think I’m a slut or a whore or something if I wanna do stuff like that with him out of wedlock?”

Junhong snorted. “He would have to think he was the biggest whore in the world to even begin to apply that logic to you, Daehyun. You’re not the first guy he’s been with, just like Himchan assured him he’s not you’re first. He’s bi, he gets the times, and I think if you were to air any of these worries to him he would die laughing. No offense. But if you wanna kiss him, just kiss him, and please,  _ please _ let me believe that is all you’re doing with him. He’s like my brother, it’s just kinda weird.”

“Understood.” Daehyun grinned.

“I can’t believe you’re both dumb in the exact same way. Like, you’re seriously both out here being convinced that the other one isn’t into you, when the way Youngjae put it, you’ve been nearly kissing and chickening out last minute for months now. Is that it, then? You just needed permission to kiss him and now we can get out of the cold?”

“Wait! One more question, what’s a way I can… what’s something I can do to let him know that I’m into him? Like romantically, too? Without saying it, though, I’m not really ready for that.”

“I mean, it’s not hard, probably. Cuddle with him? Kiss him? It doesn’t have to be some complicated thing, just do the normal lovey things people do when they’re in a relationship or have a crush or whatever. He’ll get it. He’s observant.”

“Is that it? Is there anything else I can do that he’d like?”

Junhong chewed his lip for a moment before leaning in and speaking in a low voice so that only Daehyun could hear. “I guess… you could call him predator-related pet names? Like, he’s always calling you prey-related ones, right? It might feel a little weird, but that’s very normal vampire speak. They have all of these words they use differently and that mean different things than what we would normally mean. It’ll probably feel weird to say them. It still feels weird when  _ I _ say them and I literally grew up in a coven.” 

“Wait, so that’s why he’s been calling me ‘rabbit’, ‘lamb’, and all those other things?” Daehyun, in his shock, got a little too loud and was shushed. He quickly returned to whispering. “I mean, I’m not dumb, I got that they were cute nicknames and he was being affectionate, but they aren’t just a Youngjae thing? Or a this-is-my-actual-food thing?”

Junhong laughed. “I should have guessed he would forget to explain little things like that to you. He’s only been around vampires since he was turned. He’s probably forgotten that not everyone knows the weird dialectal quirks that come along with it.”

“Junhong, that wasn’t an answer.”

“What? Oh, yeah, they’re like super affectionate pet names. Also if he adds adjectives before the prey animal, that’s like… extra lovey? I don’t know how to phrase it, man, it’s all really cringy. Just keep that in mind though. Prey animals equal affectionate pet names, adjectives equal that but a lot more extra.”

“Got it. And to be affectionate back I call him predator name? What are some examples? Are there any that you know he prefers? Can’t I just use normal pet names like ‘honey’ or ‘baby’?”

“I mean you can, but he’ll like the predator names a lot more. Things like ‘wolf’, ‘lion’, ‘bear’ I guess but that doesn’t really fit him, etc. You can add adjectives like ‘fearsome’, ‘hungry’, ‘ravenous’,” Junhong was increasingly uncomfortable as the list went on. “Just any animal that’s a predator, and any adjective that means something like ‘majestic’, ‘scary’, or ‘hungry’. Get a thesaurus and just go ham with it.”

“And you’re sure he’ll like that?” Daehyun asked louder, no longer whispering but not quite at a normal volume.

“Definitely. Now, let’s please get out of the cold and never talk about you two being gross and lovey ever again.” Junhong said in a normal voice.

Daehyun laughed. “Fine. I’ll ask Yongguk next time.”

“Oh thank god,” Junhong breathed. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things happen on Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a whole ass chapter oh my god this is the longest chapter so far and its????????? tell me what you think!~ comments motivate me to write so pls consider leaving one!
> 
> Here's me other places: [Tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chuuwonnie)
> 
> Also, if you're interested in my nonfanfic writing, consider following [non kpop twitter](https://twitter.com/itspixibot) bc im maybe working on a novel and it'll help me down the line if i try to get it published (also its just where you'll get updates about itP. If twitter's not your fave, [I also have non kpop tumblr](http://itspixibot.tumblr.com) where I'll be posting about it, but less and surrounded be more memes.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter!! Things happen!

“Who are the flowers from?” Daehyun asked as Youngjae came into the apartment. 

The bouquet of assorted flowers, mostly carnations, crinkled in a noisily plastic sort of way due to the wrapping as Youngjae’s grip adjusted and he toed off his shoes. He had a sheepish sort of smile on his face. “Me?” He said with his eyes crinkling up. He looked down at them. “There was a Valentine’s Day sale at that florist near the park. These seemed… nice.”

“They’re pretty,” said Daehyun. “I wonder which lucky girl you’re going to give them too.” It was said in an easy, joking tone. He took the 4-cup coffee holder, with two cups on the diagonal from one another, from Youngjae and placed it down on the end table.

Youngjae chuckled a soft, self-conscious way, and rubbed at the back of his head. “I don’t know if you’d call yourself a lucky girl, rabbit.”

“Please, I’m the luckiest girl in the whole world,” Daehyun laughed, taking the entire situation to be a joke. “Here, give it here. We should put them in water. You didn’t happen to get a vase too did you? ‘Cause we don’t have one.”

“I did not,” said Youngjae as he passed them over.

He watched as Daehyun wandered over to the kitchen with them gingerly cradled in his arms and stared up at the cabinet for a long moment. “Well, the only thing clean that I can’t see us needing any time soon is the puppy mug–” he held up a mug Jongup had left there that was covered in small cartoon puppies– “so we’re going to have to settle for that.” He filled the mug halfway up with water, then unwrapped the flowers and dropped them in, placing it on the island counter that divided the two rooms.

“It’s perfect,” Youngjae laughed. 

Daehyun couldn’t help the way his shoulders slumped and his whole body relaxed at Youngjae’s laugh. His heart pounded a little in his chest and if he thought about it for a little too long maybe he would have realized Youngjae had admitted to buying him flowers for Valentine’s Day, but he was just a little too busy being caught up in Youngjae’s smile. “I really did miss you,” he breathed.

If he didn’t know any better, Daehyun would suspect Youngjae was blushing. “Really? Why? I was right here, lamb.” Youngjae played it off with a wave of his hand but still there was a little smile caught up in the corners of his lips that drew Daehyun in. He leaned up over the other end of the island, so that they were facing each other on opposite sides.

“You mean you didn’t miss me too, wolf?”

Youngjae’s jaw dropped, and then his lips quirked up to one side and he was leaning over the counter towards Daehyun’s face to ask, “I’m sorry, what was that?” There was an excited glint in his eye as their faces got as close as they could be with the counter between them.

Daehyun narrowed his eyes with a teasing smile. “What was what, lion?”

Youngjae started to walk left suddenly, towards one of the two sides where the counter ended and Daehyun ran around the other side. He stopped short when he had reached the point where Youngjae once stood, with Youngjae mirroring in what was once his own position. “I swear you just said something, rabbit.”

“I didn’t say anything, Mr. Shark.” They both laughed for a moment at that one. Youngjae leaned forward again eyes narrowing, before suddenly darting to the side again. Daehyun raced away from him. They made it around the counter three times before they finally stopped with Daehyun back in the kitchen and Youngjae back in the living room leaning over the counter.

“Be careful, sweet doe,” Youngjae teased. “You’re a bit slow. You wouldn’t want a predator to catch you, right?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a predator before, hungry fox,” Daehyun teased back, out of breath. “Do you think you could show me one so I know what to run away from?” He held back his laughter to bat his eyes innocently, raising his voice a bit in mock naivety. 

“Come here and I’ll show you, pretty prey,” Youngjae said.

“Only if you can catch me, dear predator,” Daehyun replied.

Youngjae darted to the side again and Daehyun ran. They made it one and a half more times around before Daehyun went running off towards the couch. Youngjae followed after him and they ended up one on either side. Youngjae feigned going left and right, trying to bait Daehyun into running one way or the other.

“Come on, now, mouse, I won’t bite,” he laughed.

Daehyun snorted, “that of all things I know isn’t true, snake.” Youngjae suddenly darted behind the couch, so Daehyun ran in front, only to be grabbed by the arm as they were passing one another. Youngjae jumped over the couch back and got his arms around Daehyun’s middle from behind as the both laughed.

“Caught you,” Youngjae sang in his ear. He let Daehyun have just enough room to turn in his arms and return his embrace. “Now what should I do with you, pet? I finally have you all to myself.”

“I thought you didn’t miss me, ravenous tiger,” Daehyun breathed. His voice was barely there as he tried to catch his breath.

Youngjae scoffed. “How could you really believe that, tasty lamb? How could I possibly be a predator that didn’t miss one-on-one time with my precious prey?” He pressed their foreheads together, staring into Daehyun’s eyes. “Even if it was all I ever wanted to see them again, only having this sort of time with you when we were asleep wasn’t enough.”

Daehyun’s face turned a bright shade of pink and he shifted his gaze away. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “So have you decided what to do with me yet, fearsome predator?”

“Well… I’m certainly thinking about how I’d like to devour you–” Youngjae neared his lips, letting them ghost a touch as if to imply that was what he meant– “but only if you’d be ready for such a thing, pet.” He paused for a moment, and then let their silly game break to say, “but no pressure. Only when you’re ready. We can wait as long as you’d like.”

“I think I’m ready for you to show me what a real predator is, fox,” Daehyun replied, letting their lips ghost over one another again.

Youngjae drew back so their foreheads were no longer together and looked at him with wide eyes for a moment. Daehyun remained steadfast, allowing for nothing more than a half smile and a wink, which both quickly melted away.

Youngjae surged forward suddenly and pulled Daehyun into a warm, slow kiss. 

Daehyun melted against him. His knees turned to jelly as he pressed himself up against Youngjae and pushed into the kiss. He was fluid and needy, pushing Youngjae for more and more which Youngjae happily gave until they broke apart. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” Youngjae admitted, “since before you were my prey.”

“Me too.” 

Youngjae breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried. I would have done it sooner, but you kept pulling away and I didn’t want to push your boundaries. I don’t want to make you do anything you aren’t ready for. I want to go at your pace.”

“I was just worried you’d find it scandalous to be with someone out of wedlock,” Daehyun admitted with heated cheeks. He felt silly saying it, especially after the way Junhong had responded to his worries. Youngjae laughed and seemed ready to ask Daehyun if he was serious, only to be silenced before the thought could escape him. Daehyun leaned in to press another kiss to Youngjae’s lips, quick and needy, only to break away from him again to add, “if I’m being honest, I’m ready for anything with you, Youngjae.” He hated how his cheeks burned as he admitted it.

“Anything, precious prey?” Youngjae qualified. “Are you sure?”

“Anything, wolf,” Daehyun agreed.

“Then, maybe I will show you what a real predator is like.”

Youngjae caught him up in a rough kiss that Daehyun melted into just as much as he had the first one. His hands gripped onto Youngjae’s shirt. Youngjae wove one hand into Daehyun’s hair and pulled just the slightest bit, surprised when Daehyun surged forward.

“Pull my hair more, please,” he requested in a whisper before being caught back up in the kiss.

Youngjae tightened his hand into a fist and felt the jolt that when through Daehyun’s body. He started to alternate between harsh pulls and gentle rubbing at Daehyun scalp, watching as it set him off like electricity was coursing through his veins.

Youngjae broke the kiss to watch Daehyun’s wide-eyed, shaky exhales. His arms dropped and Daehyun looked confused. “Are you letting me go, fearsome fox?”

“Only so I can catch you again, pretty prey. Can’t I play with my food?” Youngjae’s eyes had gone dark as he took a step forward.

Daehyun backed away from him with wide eyes and pink cheeks, slowly leading them back into the bedroom with each step away. He wasn’t trying to get away– if Youngjae weren’t matching each of his strides one for one he’d be heartbroken. Excitement shivered down his spine and his breathing sped up. He couldn’t look away from Youngjae’s dark gaze; every moment spent with it made his stomach do flips. 

He felt the back of his thighs brush up against the bed behind him and adjust to crawl back until he was fully on it, laying on his back on a diagonal as Youngjae crawled over him.

When their lips met again, the kiss was fiery and Daehyun couldn’t help how he leaned up into it, begging for more with each kiss. His hands found their way to Youngjae’s sweater. And then they were under. He pulled up on Youngjae’s undershirt until it wasn’t tucked in any longer and then ran his hands under, on the bare skin of Youngjae’s stomach and chest. 

Youngjae responded by breaking the kiss to pull of his sweater and undershirt, and Daehyun happily did the same before they met bare-chested for another fiery kiss.

“Want you,” Daehyun groaned into the kiss, “so bad.”

Youngjae hummed against his lips and grinded down into Daehyun’s hips, which jumped at the sensation. Daehyun’s breaths had become shaky and harsh, and his heart was pounding in his ears. Youngjae broke the kiss again to kiss down his neck. He took his time, leaving sloppy hickeys in his wake.

“Bite me,” Daehyun begged.

Youngjae did and he moaned.  He could feel the way Youngjae smiled against his neck, and then dull, human teeth bit into him again, just hard enough to leave marks, but never quite enough to make him bleed. Just a peck over the actual bite mark and Youngjae could feel Daehyun’s member take interest. He bit into the bite mark with his human teeth while he grinded down and Daehyun arched off the bed with a loud moan.

“Fuck! Stop! Just a second, please.” 

The moment Daehyun said the word Youngjae pulled back completely, sitting back on his thighs with his brows furrowed and his lips drawn in a tight line. When Daehyun reached out for him, he came back to balancing over him, their foreheads together. “Are you alright, lamb? We don’t have to–”

“I just didn’t want to come too soon,” Daehyun replied with harsh breaths. “Just give me a couple seconds to calm down. I want to keep going.”

“If you’re sure, rabbit,” Youngjae murmured. “I’d like to do anything and everything with you, but I don’t want you to feel rushed or unready. Just tell me where the line is, okay?”

“I want all of it. I just need a moment. As much as I’m down for overstimulation, if it starts now I’m going to be down and out before you even get started. When you bit into the bite mark it just felt… so good… so fucking good…. I can’t describe it,” Daehyun panted.

Youngjae’s fingers grazed over the mark and Daehyun’s glazed over eyes fell shut, his mouth agape. “It really does feel good then?” Youngjae asked in a soft and amazed voice.

“So good,” Daehyun breathed. “Every time you get near it, it’s like this little spark. It’s like… it sounds so dumb but it’s like the mark is calling out for you to bite it again. And once things took a turn like this, it just got to be more and when you touched it while I was already needy it was so much…. So good but so much….” 

Youngjae pressed a kiss to Daehyun’s cheek, his own cheeks red. A happy smile took over his face as he mumbled, “I feel the same way, love.” He toyed with Daehyun’s hair in a nervous and shy sort of way that had Daehyun’s heart pounding.

So he pulled Youngjae by the hair to kiss him again. He pushed down the heat building in his stomach as he pressed himself up into the kiss and grinded up until Youngjae resumed grinding against him. He smiled into the kiss as Youngjae slowly relaxed into it, until he was kissing Daehyun down into the bed with fervor. Daehyun’s hands went trailing up and down his back, feeling the muscles contract as he moved over Daehyun.

Youngjae’s fingers trailed across the waistline of his jeans, toying with the hem as he waited for Daehyun to give him any sort of response, which came in a small begging noise and a buck of Daehyun’s hips. “Do you know what I plan to do to you, pet?” He asked in a dark tone.

“What, lion?”

“I’m going to strip you down and devour you,” Youngjae growled, “and once you’re open and begging for mercy, I’m going to make you see white twice before I’m finished. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? If even when you think you’re done and can’t take anymore, I kept going?”

“Fuck,” Daehyun gasped, his hips bucking up. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot, if you could do it.”

“Are you saying you don’t think I can make you come twice in one go, lamb?” Youngjae asked sweetly.

“You’ll have to prove it to me,” said Daehyun in a way that was meant to be defiant, but due to how hard he was panting just came off as needy and breathless. He did manage a bit of a teasing smirk, but with his glazed over eyes, he was unconvincing.

Youngjae’s gaze darkened as he stared down Daehyun. After a moment, he moved away to nuzzle Daehyun’s neck and leave a kiss over the bite mark. Daehyun choked a small noise back. “You’re trying to be tough, prey, but you’re so sensitive. I could have you come twice before I even got inside you, if I wanted.” He scraped his teeth lightly over the mark and Daehyun moaned. “We’ll leave that for next time.”

Daehyun tried to push away Youngjae’s toying hands so he could undo his pants himself, only to have his hands pushed back into the mattress by his head with a warning look. “If I knew what you liked a bit better, pet, I might just tie you down.”

“Well, if it helps any, I prefer being pinned.”

Youngjae gave a little bit of a nod before turning his attention downward. One of his hands trailed under the waist of Daehyun’s underwear, wrapping around his member and pumping him. He left warm kisses on Daehyun’s chest and stomach as Daehyun writhed below him. Every couple of minutes he would leave a small, blunted bite, spurred on to leave more and more as Daehyun grew needy and breathless.

By the time he had gotten to taking off Daehyun’s pants, Daehyun was at full mast and close to begging. “Wait, lube,” he managed to labor out.

Youngjae paused while Daehyun went digging through his nightstand for the bottle, and took it with a sly smile before he pressed Daehyun back into the bed. He pressed a short, heated kiss to Daehyun’s lips before he was back to leaving hickeys on his hips. He waited until Daehyun seemed settled, and then nipped very lightly near Daehyun’s base, causing him to jump and whimper.

Youngjae licked a stripe up his dick before taking the head into his mouth and sucking. Once Daehyun was writhing and whining he let up, lowering his head down until he was matched with Daehyun’s hole.

Daehyun groaned deep in his throat as a wet tongue lapped over him before pressing inside. He rolled his hips downward, feeling the heat build up as Youngjae stretched him out with his tongue.

He only pulled away when two lubed up fingers could easily fit inside in place of his tongue. He bit into Daehyun’s thigh as he pressed them in. Even with his human teeth, he bit hard enough to draw a little blood, and Daehyun moaned in response. Youngjae scissored his fingers, pumping them in and out. He kept stretching him until Daehyun could take another and another, until all four fit inside and could spread without resistance.

Daehyun whined when he pulled away, but it didn’t stop the glint of excitement in his eyes as Youngjae got off the bed to finish getting undressed. Before lubing himself up, Youngjae flipped Daehyun over, pressing a hand to the center of his back to keep his chest down. He spread Daehyun’s legs by the thighs, and pressed into the warm heat with a shaky, pleased breath.

Daehyun was suddenly very thankful that Youngjae had stretched him up to four fingers, but he still felt the burn where Youngjae’s fingers couldn’t reach. He had never felt so entirely full in his life. It was a feeling that made his mind go a little hazy and his heart pound in his ears. “Fuck,” he moaned. “You didn’t warn me you were going to try to break me in half.” Even with that said, Daehyun still pressed back against him.

Youngjae kissed down his back as he stifled his own small groans, murmuring sweet nothings into his skin as he went. “Precious prey,” he whispered with a kiss behind Daehyun’s ear. He left kissed down the wrong side of Daehyun’s neck, the side away from the bite mark, as he continued mumbling. “Pretty pet... tasty rabbit... sweet doe... dearest lamb…. You feel so good. So right. So perfect.”

The first real movement came from Daehyun, rutting his hips back and forth as much as he could. Youngjae responded with another soft groan and with larger movements, in and out, making Daehyun’s mouth fall open and his eyes go half-lidded. He moaned loudly as Youngjae hit that fireworks spot inside him over and over, Youngjae’s own groans softly echoing his. He pushed back to meet Youngjae’s thrusts, occasionally muttering encouragement for more, for harder, for faster, until Youngjae was punching into him roughly.

His hands twisted up into the fabric of the sheets, and Youngjae’s curled up over his wrists, pinning them down. He nosed over the bite mark as he went, basking in Daehyun’s loud moans that only grew louder with each thrust. 

They paused for Daehyun to pull his hips up, and prop himself up on extended arms. Youngjae bent over him and gave a couple warning thrusts before he returned to the pace and intensity of beforehand. He had one hand on Daehyun’s hip to keep him steady, and the other came forward to pump him until Daehyun’s loud moans were a nonstop melody with Youngjae’s as their bass. Right as Daehyun thought he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore, Youngjae bit into him again, still dull, no fangs, but over the bite mark.

“Youngjae!” Daehyun screamed. His vision went blurry as his eyes went wide and he released hard all over his stomach. His arms collapsed as Youngjae kept going, driving his vision to go white and his body to feel weak.

Youngjae fucked him roughly through his orgasm, not slowing down as Daehyun’s pleasured screams coaxed him onward. “Can you keep going?” Youngjae’s voice was sweet. 

“Yeah,” Daehyun breathed. “Don’t– ah! Fuck! Don’t stop, please don’t stop, wolf.”

Youngjae pulled out suddenly and flipped Daehyun onto his back. Daehyun hooked his leg around his waist, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and groaned deep in his throat as Youngjae went back to pounding into him. “Just wolf?” Youngjae asked in a breathless tone.

“Ravenous wolf. Formidable fox,” Daehyun murmured. In response, Youngjae’s pace picked up and he resumed pumping Daehyun, which had begun to take interest again. “Fuck! S-So good,” Daehyun groaned. “So good, hungry lion.” He felt awkward saying them with the facade of their game gone. 

His vision started to grow spotty as his cock got back to full hardness, quicker the second time from all of the overstimulation. Youngjae was still going steady, his forehead pressed to Daehyun’s forehead as he pounded roughly into him. One hand stayed steady on Daehyun’s hip, but the other trailed up until it twined into Daehyun’s hair. He pulled just enough to tilt his head to the side, giving better access to the bite mark. Daehyun arched off the bed at the rough treatment, his body thrumming with need and desire to know what Youngjae planned to do with it.

He didn’t do much more than nose over the injured skin at first, leaving the occasional kiss that had Daehyun moaning as the bite mark sang out for him.

“Quick tiger, please–” Daehyun didn’t know what he was begging for until Youngjae’s fangs came down. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Daehyun groaned. Those fang hadn’t even touched him and it was like he could already feel them. The bite mark sent a burning pleasure through his whole body.

Youngjae’s fangs scraped lightly over the skin near the bite mark and tears came into Daehyun’s eyes. It felt so overwhelmingly good that all thought shut off beyond how badly he needed those teeth and Youngjae in him. The farther gone he went, the more every touch from Youngjae felt like those fangs near his bite mark, until it felt like his whole body was aflame, singing out for Youngjae to mark him, to take him, to touch him, to love him. “Please,” he begged desperately, “please, fearsome, ravenous, wonderful fox. I need it. I need you so badly. I need it so badly.”

“What do you need, precious prey?” Youngjae lisped a little as he spoke, a cute edge to the man currently pounding every thought out of Daehyun’s mind in the most obscene of ways. His hand gripped onto Daehyun’s thigh and moved it over his shoulder.

Daehyun near-screamed with the next thrust, mind-numbingly needy with his cock hard and leaking onto the cum on his stomach. “I need–” He groaned– “Fuck! I need– ah– for you– mmmp– to bite me. Drink me. Please, dear wolf, please.”

Youngjae’s hips stuttured for a moment, and it took him a short time to recover. “Fuck,” he groaned, “fuck, fuck fuck.” He moaned into Daehyun’s ear with each pounding thrust. “Perfect, pretty, precious prey I– I-I– So–” Whatever Youngjae was trying to say, he was trying really hard not to say it. He gave in just to suppress the words. His sharp fangs bit into Daehyun’s neck, perfectly matching the spaces carved out for them in the bite mark.

Daehyun came again with a loud, broken shout of Youngjae’s name. His vision went white and his whole body was shaking.

Youngjae let go, both physically with his teeth, and less physically, letting himself come inside Daehyun as he moaned Daehyun’s name. His hips kept pumping, slower and slower with each thrust, until they were still beyond the rapid panting moving their chests. Youngjae licked over the wound carefully, and when he pulled away Daehyun noticed there was cum under his chin.

Looking down at himself, Daehyun realized the second time he had came he had reached his own neck with how hard he released.

Youngjae gave Daehyun a short warning before he pulled out, eliciting a groan from both of them. He didn’t even seem to give it a second thought, licking Daehyun’s stomach and chest until the residual come was gone with the same gentle, careful licks he had coated the bite mark with. Once he was finished, he flopped down by Daehyun’s side, panting with shut eyes and a pleased smile.

He opened his eyes when Daehyun slid on top of him, and let out a short, breathless laugh when Daehyun licked the cum away from under his chin before settling back down by his side.

Youngjae rolled over, and the two laid their facing each other, out of breath and overwhelmed with the highs they had just hit, in silence. The was a hazy, numb pleasure between them, leaving both sleepy-eyed and at peace.

That is, until Daehyun’s brain restarted. 

_ Fuck.  _ Daehyun’s mind was racing. They had really just done that, hadn’t they? His only goal had been to steal a playful kiss at some point in the day because then, in the distant future when they were together, they’d have a cute first kiss story on Valentine’s Day of all days, but no. His instinct to be too much all the time had kicked in and he had gone all the way with Youngjae the same day they had their first kiss.

Don’t get him wrong though. Daehyun did  _ not _ regret the sex. It was everything he could want with a new partner. He just wished he would have thought a little about things and not had sex so early. He followed Himchan’s logic on that front. A guy you bang soon after meeting is never going to be more than a guy you bang. The guy you make wait a couple weeks, playing up the tension and the flirting until something romantic and platonic is firmly established, that guy would be the one you’d fall in love with, and more importantly, would fall in love with you. In his mind, Youngjae had only started to see him as a potential romantic partner that day, when they had kissed, and by giving into his desires so quickly he maybe had just ruined his whole plan to make Youngjae love him.

So, to put it simply, Daehyun was back on his bullshit.

“Why do you look so panicked, sweet lamb?” Youngjae murmured, running his hand up and down Daehyun’s bare back.

“Our coffee is going to be cold now,” Daehyun lied, “and you went all the way to 1st Street to get the good stuff, too.”

Youngjae’s eyes crinkled up and his whole face followed, lighted up with laughter at what he thought was Daehyun’s concern. He chuckled a little as he pulled Daehyun into his arms, and Daehyun curled up against him. Youngjae spoke through giggles, his words bubbling with them. “Don’t worry; we can just microwave it. It’s alright, Songbird.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youngjae is worried about a lot of things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too lazy to put my other socials, check the previous chapter for that
> 
> dont come for me for youngjaes language i tried my best, otherwise comments and constructive criticism actively encouraged lol

The air conditioning buzzed in the background to counter the sweltering July air. Daehyun had ended up in his underwear, laying on his back on the couch with his legs spread. One was thrown over the back of the couch while the other was bent down to the floor. He had one arm thrown over his head, and the other held his phone as the TV droned in the background.

Sometimes he’d swear he felt a pulse in his bite mark before he could hear Youngjae’s keys in the door, but he knew it was all in his head. Every time he heard footsteps coming down the hallway, he felt that twinge of excitement that it might be Youngjae, and more often than not that thought led to a littler twitch in the bite mark. He was pathetically and uselessly in love, and he knew it. He was almost certain Youngjae felt the same way, too, which made the fact that they still weren’t dating even more of a frustration to him.

Youngjae was everything.

The lock clicked and scratched as Youngjae fumbled on the other side of the door. Daehyun put his phone on the coffee table before settling back and closing his eyes. The heat made him tired. Walking home from work had felt like a sauna.

The lock finally clicked open and Youngjae’s footsteps came through. Daehyun didn’t open his eyes. Work had left him exhausted, and Youngjae was always more than willing to let him nap.

“Fuck.” The word was breathed softly, and Daehyun wondered what had Youngjae sounding so shocked. He could hear the air conditioner beep as Youngjae set it to a cooler temperature – he’d always float the electricity bill when he drove the price up like that. Maybe it was the heat the had Youngjae so bothered?

Soft, padded footsteps made their way over to him on the couch as the air conditioner rumbled louder. Daehyun could feel the chilly air beg goosebumps out of his skin, but before he could curl up against the new, colder air, a warm body found its way on top of his own. Daehyun let his leg fall from on top of the couch and wrap around Youngjae’s waist. Youngjae responded by nuzzling into his neck with a hum. Daehyun jolted with the electricity in his neck.

“What a thing to come home to,” he murmured.

“It was too hot,” Daehyun replied in a sleepy tone. “You’re back.”

“I’m back,” Youngjae agreed. He pressed a short kiss to Daehyun’s lips before settling down with his head on Daehyun’s bare chest. “We met the new humans today. They’re a nice set of girls. Their main motivation seemed to be the free rent, and once we had everything set up, Yongguk started talking about turning Himchan.”

“They’ve been talking about turning him for a couple months now,” Daehyun replied. “Himchan swore me to secrecy back in April about it – he’s wanted to be turned since he found out.”

“He wants an eternity with Yongguk, and Yongguk wants an eternity with him,” Youngjae agreed. “It’s sweet. I’d like something like that, too.”

“One day,” Daehyun agreed. His arms found their way around Youngjae shoulders as his eyes fell shut again. He wasn’t surprised at the sudden pleasant feeling from his neck as Youngjae neared the mark.

Youngjae nuzzled into the raised, scarred skin. Over a year of feeding had left it a grotesque, twisted little thing, raised up in a clear map of Youngjae’s fangs. He covered it when he left the house, knowing what the reaction would be, just as Himchan covered the mark on his neck, and both Junhong and Jongup hid the marks on their arms. “Junhong is moving in with Jongup.” The thought was put out with no warning, with Youngjae’s lips ghosting over the mark as he spoke. “Are you… concerned at all about them?”

“Should I be?”

Youngjae stiffened against him, but eventually admitted into Daehyun’s shoulder. “I don’t want Junhong to get hurt. He’s done this before a couple times – different kids in his high school. A girl in his class broke his heart so badly that he wouldn’t leave his room for weeks….”

“Jongup’s not like that.”

He could feel Youngjae gulp against him, how he swallowed hard. “A lot of people aren’t like that until it’s Junhong. I’m not saying Jongup’s a bad guy or that he’d purposely break Junhong’s heart but–”

“No, Jongup’s not… he’s not into… people. He’s aromantic. He makes that clear with people pretty much the moment they start to get affectionate with him.”

“Oh.” Youngjae’s head came up, to the tune of a whine from Daehyun that he was away from the mark. Their eyes met and something in the way Youngjae looked at him told Daehyun that things were about to take a turn. “Junhong is asexual.”

“Oh.” Daehyun thought for a moment. “Jongup isn’t super interested in having sex. He says it’s kind of boring.”

“Junhong isn’t super comfortable with romance.” Youngjae replied.

“So we aren’t concerned,” Daehyun concluded.

Youngjae nodded. “No, yeah, there’s probably no reason to worry about that. They’re two reasonable adults, they definitely sat down and had an honest, long conversation about their feelings like we would if we had we needed to talk about. This is fine.”

“It’s fine.” Daehyun agreed.

“It’s totally fine, and I’m definitely not a protective older brother type who wants to march over there and make sure they knew they needed to talk about their feelings and be honest about what everything going on between them means. I’m fine. It’s fine.”

“I can be distracting if you need me to be.”

“As if walking in on you in your underwear with your legs spread wasn’t distraction enough?”

Daehyun grinded up with a coy smile. “Do you want to play, precious predator?” He laughed a little when Youngjae’s expression went blank as if he was surprised. Pink took over his cheeks and Daehyun poked at them with a grin.

He found his hands pinned above his head shortly after. 

Youngjae trailed kisses down the side of his neck away from the bite mark, trading them up for the occasional teasing nip when he was in the mood. When he pulled away a minute of so later, Daehyun whined at him. “You talk a big game for someone who falls so quickly, mouse. I’d call you a brat if your attitude lasted that long.”

Normally Daehyun liked to be talked to that way, but once in a blue moon he just wanted to feel loved. “Lion, not today.”

“Hm?” Youngjae nuzzled over the bite mark and let go of Daehyun’s wrists. He stayed silent for a moment before prompting, “what do you want, love?” He left affectionate kisses over the mark between every word. They sent small twinges of joy and comfort through Daehyun’s whole body.

“I just want to be loved today.”

Youngjae looked up at him with a shy smile and pressed another kiss to the bite mark before replying, “you’re loved every day, Songbird.”

Daehyun’s face turned a bright red and he moved his hand from above his head to play with Youngjae’s hair. He looked away and gulped, before looking back at Youngjae’s doting gaze. “Am I?” He asked quietly, as if afraid to say the words.

Youngjae chuckled a little. “Do I really need to say it, Songbird? You’ve been my prey for almost a year now. I love you the same now as I did the day you agreed, sweet lamb.”

Daehyun cursed in his head. If loving someone as a friend was a thing, he supposed he was one step above that, but it must have not been romantic love. No, not if Youngjae was framing it in the context of their vampire-human dynamic. Was he Youngjae’s favorite meal then? The best thing he ever tasted? Or did he just love that he got to drink from Daehyun while they were having sex? Daehyun’s mind raced with alarmingly out-of-touch thoughts.

With Daehyun’s dense mind racing, the fact that Youngjae might be expecting a response didn’t seem to make it through the traffic of his mind. “I love you, precious prey.” Youngjae repeated.

“I love you too, dear predator,” Daehyun replied. His mind raced with how sappy he must have sounded. It must have been clear to Youngjae at that point that Daehyun didn’t just mean he loved Youngjae as his predator. He loved him romantically. 

The way Youngjae smiled, how it lit up is whole face, how he beamed down like the sun and made Daehyun feel hotter than the July air, that made Daehyun feel hopeful. Maybe Youngjae felt the same way. Maybe he wouldn’t need to be turned to win Youngjae’s heart. Maybe Youngjae would ask him out in the near future? Daehyun liked to believe he had a reason to be hopeful as he and Youngjae kissed again.

Just as those hopeful thoughts reached a resounding pitch, Youngjae broke the kiss. Daehyun could feel when Youngjae’s fangs came down without looking and with the distance separating them being too much for the movement to ghost his skin. He knew it just from the peace pulsing out of the bite mark, like everything wrong had been set into place.

Youngjae’s fangs grazed over they mark and scraped over other parts of his skin, but never dug in. 

“Please,” Daehyun begged.

“I can’t, love,” Youngjae replied softly, letting his fangs tickle over the injured skin in a way that set Daehyun’s heart pounding in his ears. “Our time together already leaves your blood too thin most days. It’s reckless and indulgent of me to feed from you so often. If Yongguk were to hear he’d lecture me for hours on the risks to you health.”

“You never bite in for more than a second.”

“Never for more than a second, but you know very well how frequently we end up intimate. It’s hard to resist you when you’re like that, the least I can do is remain level-headed now. Those seconds add up, Songbird. You’re set to make a glutton out of me.”

“You’re worried about me,” Daehyun observed.

“Always, love, now no more than always.”

Daehyun shook his head and pulled Youngjae to look at him. His brow was furrowed as their foreheads pressed together. “You always speak in fancier language when you’re feeling something strong. It’s like you slowly fall back in time, like you’re slowly slipping back into a native tongue. What’s worrying you, fox? I don’t think I can be distracting enough to lift the world off your shoulders. It’s not just Jongup and Junhong, is it?”

“There are too many worries for the time we have together, love, let’s just–”

Daehyun pulled back and sat up abruptly. Youngjae mirrored. His eyes laid steadily on his lap and Daehyun could feel his fangs hide away once again in his gums. Daehyun took his hand in his before speaking in a soft tone. “We have all the time in the world, Youngjae. I want to be here for you when things are tough, okay? There’s no pressure to talk, I understand if you want to keep some things to yourself, but I hate seeing you hurting like this. Talk to me about anything, even the smallest worry. I’m here to listen. I’m here to help.”

“Do you ever tire of giving your all away, love? For I keep asking for every drop of you.”

“Every drop is yours,” Daehyun replied. “Tell me anything you want, Youngjae. I don’t mind listening.”

The fingers of Youngjae’s free hand drummed against his knee. Daehyun pulled him by the hand into his arms and Youngjae took a deep breath before relaxing against him. His eyes stayed close as he hid his face in the bite mark on Daehyun’s neck. “I have no means of gauging how much I take from you when I drink droplets nearly every day. I try to monitor your heart but it’s so hard to be certain. Junhong thought you sounded a little thin today.”

“Should we cut back, then? What’s the risk?”

“If I drink too much you’d surely die, Songbird. You’d faint before that point, of course, and then I would know to monitor you carefully. If necessary I’d take you to the hospital, but how could I explain such a thing? And how would the others react to my lack of responsibility? Your life has too much meaning to me for me to waste you so simply.”

“We cut back then.” Daehyun sounded sad to say it. “It feels amazing and I love it, but if it’s making you worry, we’ll cut back.”

Youngjae nodded against him and then they both went silent for a long few minutes. Daehyun’s finger carded through Youngjae’s hair in a slow and steady rhythm, but Youngjae stayed stiff and uncomfortable. 

“That’s not all, is it?”

“When Himchan is turned… he’s going to have to kill someone. We all…” Youngjae’s eyelashes left wet streaks on Daehyun’s neck. “Will you hate me, my love? Will you throw me away to know what we must do? I cannot fathom the idea thee might misprise me, Songbird. We might not but drink all of the blood from one victim at which hour we art first born.  There is nary another way to survive our first hours.”

“You have to drink all of the blood of a human, killing them, when you are first turned?” Daehyun asked. Youngjae nodded. “So, when Himchan is turned, and if Jongup and I are turned in the future, we’ll have to kill someone.”

“Aye.”

“Who did you kill?” He asked.

“Mine own sister wast ill with the same yond tooketh me. T’wast a terrible way to wend. Yongguk came to give me his blood and turn me at mine own last hour.  Without his kindness, I wouldst has't perished. Mine own sister did refuse his kindness, and I did save her from a mis’rable end.” Youngjae replied in a quiet and hurt sort of way. “I have lost my modern tongue, aye.”

“Your language always gets older when you’re upset,” Daehyun repeated. “But don’t worry about it. And… and if you killed someone who wanted to die, and who would have otherwise died very painfully, I… I imagine that might be seen as an act of kindness.”

“Himchan shall seek out the brute.”

“I… I don’t want to think about that. If Himchan kills his ex, that’s his business and I’m going to make sure I don’t know anything about it.” He shook for a moment, and then changed the subject. “So the way to be turned is to drink the blood of a vampire?”

“Yes. Tell me you hate me not, I beg you, Songbird.” 

Daehyun shook his head and spoke in a kind tone. “I don’t hate you for something you had to do hundreds of years ago. I’d rather not think about it. Let’s talk about something else, something less… like this. Are you worrying about anything else?”

“Aye. I saw them today.”

“Who?”

“The hunters,” Youngjae replied, his voice barely a whisper. “While we were out at lunch, they passed us by. Neither spared us a glance long enough to know us nor our faces, but to see them at all hurt well enough.”

Daehyun froze and his arms tightened around Youngjae. “You’re certain it was them?”

“As certain as daylight, rabbit. I’d never forget their cruel faces.” Youngjae shivered. His voice stayed low, and he pressed closer against Daehyun. “But they didn’t see us. I’m sure of it. They didn’t see us.”

Daehyun took a couple deep breaths and tried to bring his heart rate down. “Is it safe to stay here if they’re still around? Should we move out of the city?”

Youngjae sighed against him. “I’m tired of running, lamb. This is our home. We have our family here. They didn’t see me, and so there’s no harm done. I’m sure they were only passing through. And if they weren’t, I’m well enough to fight them now, and with the others by my side there’s no risk in it. They won’t be able to harm us any longer.”

Daehyun gulped. Youngjae kissed over the bite mark, trying to relax him. “I can’t lose you,” he admitted.

“And neither I you, love. If it weren’t for you, I would be gone to this world. How could I lose my savior, my love, my dearest Songbird?”

“I’m sure you would have found someone else to feed you.” Daehyun replied with red cheeks. His fingers ran through Youngjae’s hair as Youngjae kissed over the bite mark. “I’m clearly not the only willing donor in the world, with the new humans in our midst.”

“Is that a taste of jealousy on your tongue, tasty fawn?”

“You wouldn’t drink from them, would you? I am your prey after all. Not, at least, while I’m human and capable of being fed from?” He could feel Youngjae’s smile against his neck and the pleased vibrations in his throat.

Youngjae’s fingers rubbed soft crescents into Daehyun’s sides as he spoke. “You’re my one and only, love. I swear to you I will only feed on you for as long as you are alive.”

Daehyun took a deep breath and relaxed.

“But, Songbird, my point still stands, for lack of food was not what would have killed me. The hunters were not it either. You truly saved me, maybe in ways that you do not yet know. I thought… I thought perhaps you had figured me out, but maybe you do not know the extent to which you saved me.”

“How?” Daehyun breathed. “You were dying because you hadn’t eaten, weren’t you?”

“You weren’t the first to shove your wrist in my face, my dear, just the first I accepted.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was trying to die, Daehyun. I wanted death to come to me. I had done all I could to avenge my family by sending those that had killed them away for life, but I couldn’t fathom life anymore. I had friends back in Jeju, where our coven lived, human friends that begged me to feed from them when they knew I had stopped eating. I was in and out of friends’ houses for the first six months after the trial ended, and for all of it I refused to drink their offerings. I wanted to die, I just didn’t want the hunters to be the ones that killed me.”

“You were… trying to starve to death?” Daehyun voice broke. “You were trying to commit suicide?” Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Yes, and if it weren’t for you, Songbird, I would have succeeded.” Daehyun’s arms tightened around him as he cried, and Youngjae stayed close, eyes closed as he fought off his own pesky tears. Eventually he failed, letting a few fall as he listened to Daehyun’s heart beat.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So many things happen all the time and it's a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it sure is a chapter isn't it
> 
> leave me a comment on this thing that is definitely a lot of word put together to form enough sentences to be called a chapter. tell me what the good words were. tell me what the bad words were. oh boy, there were words in this for sure, and i would like to hear your opinion on them

Daehyun hadn’t expected the apartment to be decked out with candles, flowers, and mood-lighting when he had gotten home from work, but he had at least expected something. Youngjae had mentioned their upcoming ‘anniversary’ at the beginning of the month, although Daehyun was hesitant to call it that. After all, weren’t anniversaries meant for people in romantic relationships? He was just Youngjae’s prey.

And sure, being Youngjae’s prey seemed to involve receiving flowers, constant cuddling, having sex, and saying ‘I love you’ with bated breath right before bed, but they definitely weren’t dating, right? Sure, they went out together to do one-on-one activities and some of those activities were romantic and sure, they gave each other cute gifts all the time and called each other by overly affectionate pet names, but they definitely weren’t dating. The only name they had ever put to what they were was predator/prey, and Daehyun was absolutely certain that meant something else. He was just Youngjae’s main food source, and all of those extra things were because they wanted to date, but for some reason they weren’t.

All of that makes perfect sense to someone who is equal parts dense and prone to overthinking.

He had been wrapped up more than what was necessary for early October, but something about the cold still set his nerves on end. The apartment, however, was warm and inviting. Daehyun had bought a small gift after Junhong casually ‘reminded’ him that Youngjae would be expecting one and that there were a pair of shoes he really liked but couldn’t bring himself to spend all of the money to buy.

They had done gifts before Daehyun had left for work, leaving him unprepared for the apartment he walked into.

“Songbird,” Youngjae cooed from the bedroom. He was over to Daehyun quickly, a smug look on his face at Daehyun’s surprise. He pulled down Daehyun’s scarf from where it blocked his mouth, then used it to pull Daehyun closer, into a warm and caring kiss. “Let me see.” 

His thumbs swiped under Daehyun’s eyes were the skin was an ugly color and swollen. There was a bandage over his nose but he didn’t seem bothered by it. “It wasn’t a bad break.”

Youngjae pursed his lips before the fell into a frown. “Be more careful, please, love. It feels like every time you come home from work, you come home injured. If I didn’t know you as well, I might even dare to ask you to quit.”

Daehyun shook his head. “I’m fine. Suwong was just coming out of the kitchen at the exact wrong time and I fell a lot harder than usual. The manager on today said he would make sure the tile gets fixed before anyone else smashed their nose into the broken bits. If it’s any consolation, I have the next two weeks off.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“It’ll heal. They didn’t think I needed surgery, either, just a couple weeks healing time.” He looked around the room and took in the atmosphere. “This is a lot,” Daehyun breathed.

“Too much?” Youngjae helped him out of his scarf, hat, and jacket as Daehyun stood mostly dumbfounded at the detail. It felt like Youngjae was a whirlwind around him, while in reality Daehyun was just processing the world very slowly due to overload.

“No, it’s wonderful.” With his things off and put away, Daehyun found himself wrapped up in his arms and another warm kiss that made his knees go weak and his heart ache for more. He pressed up against Youngjae as much as he melted in his arms, too distracted to feel how tired he was from work.

Youngjae pulled away and with a small smile told him, “I love you, Songbird.”

“I love you too,” Daehyun replied, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. “In every single way, Youngjae. You have my whole heart.” He expected some sort of shock, or at least a reaction, to the fact that he had confessed to loving Youngjae ‘more than just as a predator’, by what he thought predator meant, but he received no such response. Instead he felt himself pressed into another slow kiss that warmed him up.

They didn’t spend long in the living room – Daehyun barely had enough time to take in the roses and candles on the island counter and the coffee table. “You bought vases,” he observed as Youngjae led him by the hand towards the bedroom.

Youngjae chuckled, before asking, “are you tired, tasty rabbit? Have you eaten? I’ve been fasting just for tonight.”

“I was wondering why you hadn’t eaten for the last month,” replied Daehyun. They made their way through the door, which Youngjae shut behind them before pressing Daehyun against it. Daehyun’s arms came around his shoulders. “I came prepared, fearsome wolf. I knew I’d be meeting a ravenous predator tonight.”

Youngjae grinned before pushing Daehyun more properly against the door. He pinned him there with his hands and body, and eager thrum between them as the kiss they met each other with was harsher and needier. He pinned Daehyun’s wrists above his head with one hand and used the other to pull Daehyun’s hair. Soft circles were massaged into Daehyun’s head before he pulled again, alternating between the two in the way he knew Daehyun enjoyed.

When Youngjae released him, Daehun panted and closed his eyes, trying to contain himself. “Hungry fox, what will you do with me?”

“What will I do with you indeed, tasty rabbit? I have so many ideas. After all, it is always more fun to play with your food before you eat it, isn’t it? How would you like it, before I have a taste of you, pet? Would you like a taste of me first?”

“Yes, please,” Daehyun replied.

Youngjae flipped them around and rested with his back against the wall. He dragged him forward by the wrists, pulling him closer until Daehyun stood between his legs. “Take charge, then, mouse. Anything you want.” He winked, though he didn’t let go of Daehyun’s wrists.

Daehyun found he could still move his hands freely, even though Youngjae was holding onto his wrists, so he pulled Youngjae’s shirt off and cupped Youngjae’s cheeks before kissing him. It was needier and hotter than before, and slowly he pulled up his own shirt. He was willing to break the kiss only to pull it off. He moved down his chest with sloppy open mouth kisses until he reached his waistline. He dropped to his knees.

Youngjae sighed with contentment once Daehyun had settled on leaving hickeys above the waistline of his pants and threaded his fingers through Daehyun’s hair as he waited with dark, eager eyes.

“So, I can have a taste of my precious predator before my precious predator devours me?” Daehyun asked into Youngjae’s crotch. “You’re my favorite meal, wolf.” 

“And you’re mine, pet.”

Daehyun helped Youngjae out of his pants and underwear before licking from his base to his tip. He wrapped his lip around his head and sucked and toyed with it as Youngjae groaned above him. Slowly but surely he took Youngjae down, shying away from the last couple of centimeters to keep his broken nose from bumping up against Youngjae’s hips. It still stung from their kisses, he didn’t want to make it worse.

He set up a steady rhythm and Youngjae let him go as he pleased. As much as they both preferred it rough, breaking Daehyun’s nose more would be a terrible way to spend their anniversary. It wasn’t quite how it usually went between them, what with both of them liking it a little rougher, and that playing into their usual little game, but neither was willing to risk interrupting their romp for a trip to the ER.

The pace stayed steady until Youngjae came with a groan of Daehyun’s name, and then Daehyun stood up to rest with his head on Youngjae’s shoulder.

Youngjae’s arms wrapped tightly around his middle but otherwise they were silent for a long, breathless moment. Both were panting. His hand eventually twined into Daehyun’s hair, petting him gently, as he mumbled into the open air, “happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary,” Daehyun replied softly. “You know, I’d be willing to be your anything, Youngjae, if you just asked. Just ask and I’ll say yes. I want to be everything to you, just like you’re everything to me.” He felt frustrated, but he was trying not to let it show. Why weren’t they dating? When they were constantly saying ‘I love you’, doing romantic gestures for one another, and sharing every intimate moment with one other, it just stopped making any sense at all. Daehyun couldn’t understand why Youngjae hadn’t asked him out yet.

“You already are my everything, Songbird.” Frustrating. Everything was so frustrating. Why couldn’t Youngjae see they’d be perfect together?

Daehyun picked himself up and faced Youngjae. He looked him straight in the eye and tried to convey everything he meant through his gaze as he said, “I love you. So much. More than I’ve ever loved anyone before.”

“I feel the same way,” replied Youngjae. “In my long, long life, I’ve never met anyone more special to me than you, Songbird. When I call you precious, I mean it wholeheartedly. You are my most precious prey, the dearest person to ever enter my heart. If I never had to let you go, I think the years would go by quicker, love. I think… I think now might not be the time to talk about that formally, while you’re still hot and bothered, but I’d like that with you.”

Daehyun nodded, unsure of what Youngjae really meant. “We’ll talk about it later.”

It didn’t seem to be the answer Youngjae was looking for, but Daehyun was entirely unsure of what he was asking. To beat off the off energy between them, he pressed himself up into another warm kiss and waited for Youngjae to set himself back to normal.

He could tally that normalcy by the seconds as Youngjae’s hands shifted up his body, until something clicked just right and he was flipping them over. Daehyun found his hands pinned against the door by a tight grip which loosened suddenly. “Sorry,” Youngjae mumbled against his lips. “I guess with your already broken nose, I should be gentler tonight, shouldn’t I?”

“I’m fine,” Daehyun murmured, pressing a singular brief kiss against Youngjae’s lips before evoking their common game. “You’ve caught me fearsome predator. Will you rip me to shreds? I imagine such a ravenous fox will strip me of everything until I’m mindless and unable to move.”

“You should have been more careful, tasty fawn,” Youngjae replied. “If you didn’t wish to be devoured.” He pressed another rough kiss to Daehyun’s lips as he renewed his tight grip on Daehyun’s wrists. He kissed down to his neck, leaving bites around his bite mark before leaving a hickey over the injured skin. Daehyun writhed and whined under him. He loved the feeling of being pinned coupled with Youngjae’s teeth on him. His whole body was alight.

“Please, hungry wolf, I’ll give you anything you want.”

“There is only one thing I want, precious rabbit, and that’s a taste of you.”

Youngjae  dragged his nails down Daehyun’s side. “Pretty prey. You’ll taste so good when I suck you dry.” His lips attached to Daehyun’s neck and left hickeys over any part of him he could reach. Their hips grinded together. “Such a pretty corpse you’ll make, red-eyed and eternal.” He had him strip off his clothes before he trailed those bites down his chest to leave hickeys over the faded ones on his stomach. He left crescent shaped nail marks in Daehyun’s thighs as he bit the skin over his hips. 

He had Daehyun stand with one leg over his shoulder as his tongue pushed in alongside one finger. 

Daehyun groaned deep in his throat as one finger quickly became two and Youngjae’s lips moved from behind to the front – playing with his head as his hand stretched him out. By the time Youngjae had three fingers in, Daehyun felt like he might burst. “Please, precious predator, no more of this torture. I can’t take it any longer.”

Youngjae pulled back, shrugged Daehyun’s leg off and stood. He  smiled, letting it turn into a dark smirk as he stepped closer. 

Daehyun’s eyes went wide and he pressed himself further into the wall. His breath hitched as Youngjae grabbed his arms tightly, and Daehyun was pleased to think it was probably tight enough to leave bruises, and then he was yanked from the wall and practically thrown onto the bed. His breath caught up in the back of his throat as he fought back a pleased groan. Roughness interrupted by moments of sweet, like Youngjae pecking his cheek as he crawled over him, was his exact favorite treatment.

“Are you ready, Songbird?”

“Yes.” Daehyun’s voice was breathy and light. That breath hitched as Youngjae pushed in, slow and careful. The rhythm he set up was quick and rough, the way they both preferred it to be.

Snapping hips pounded into him. The driving pleasure quickly found his g-spot and the well-timed, well aimed thrusts had him crying out with need. His mouth stretched into a pretty o-shape as he moaned a constant melody. Youngjae responded like an echo, loving each intertwined moment more than the last.

Their movements stayed rough as Daehyun’s head lolled to the side, revealing Youngjae’s prize for winning their game. There was the bite mark, raised and a little disturbing, scarred after over a year of vampire venom sinking into the same spot. It mapped out Youngjae’s teeth perfectly, like it was made for him to bite into. In some ways, it even was. “Bite me,” Daehyun begged. That begging tone turned to a loud moan at the end, as Youngjae littered the injured skin with soft kisses. It was a strange juxtaposition – a combination of rough and pounding thrusts coupled with soft and loving kisses. It was that which always set Daehyun off on his highest of highs.

Daehyun bit back his moans as the rough pace slowly pushed him up the bed, pounding into him so deliciously that he could barely think. He pressed his chin up and Youngjae read the movement, letting up on the gentle kisses to press their foreheads together. Daehyun bit his lip as he tried to hold back any noises, eyes half lidded as he stared into Youngjae’s dark red, glassed over ones.

“Precious song bird, why won’t you sing for me?” Youngjae lifted his hand up from where it had been holding his hips to pull on his bitten lower lip with his thumb.

Daehyun let go of the skin and a loud moan ripped through him as a rough thrust hit him just right and his vision go white. 

Youngjae kept that hand on his face, stroking his cheek as he moved their hips together at the bruising pace. “I love these melodies you sing for me,” Youngjae mumbled underneath Daehyun’s moans. “Sometimes, I think we must make the prettiest music.”

When Youngjae’s statement broke off in a groan, Daehyun couldn’t fight off his smile. “As if… ah! As if you don’t create the prettiest mmmm songs yourself, lion. It’s not song without your harmonies.”

“Songbirds are we,” replied Youngjae dotingly. The moaned together in harmony, minds blank with neediness. When his fangs came down from their hiding place, prepared to bite Daehyun, Daehyun almost screamed. He almost came. He had to fight it back, with the pleasure emitting from the bite mark and the need to be bitten so strong it felt maddening.

Those sharp, smooth, tangled fangs pressed against his neck as they continued their quick pace. “I’m so hungry for you, love. It’s all I can think of. But still, not a drop more than what I need.”

Daehyun’s blood felt like it was on fire with the pleasure that coursed through him as Youngjae’s fangs scraped against his neck. Those thin, plentiful little things that wound around one another had once haunted his nightmares, and now bit into him, into those holes now carved into his flesh that were a perfect match for them. They sent waves of pleasure and peace through his wrecked body. Heat coiled in his gut as his blood ran thin and his head grew heavy.

Daehyun came hard with a pleased scream, a high, prolonged note at the bridge of their duet. If he could have, he would’ve begged Youngjae wholeheartedly to continue, but little else could escape him beyond his high note and his melody.

Youngjae continued to push into his oversensitive heat with harmonizing moans. The bruising, wild pace continued as he took a break from his meal to lick over the wound. A hand wrapped around Daehyun’s cock, pumping it back to life. When he was content with it, he reached up to pin Daehyun’s arms down again, his grip so tight that Daehyun was sure he would have the pleasure of finding bruises there. He liked being marked by Youngjae. He liked the feeling of belonging, and the tenderness that always followed.

After all, it had taken months to convince Youngjae to leave bruises across his skin. It was one of their biggest fights and hardest compromises, between how much Daehyun wanted to be littered with those marks and how much Youngjae didn’t want to hurt him. It was a compromise, less than what Daehyun wanted, but right on the cusp of what Youngjae was comfortable doing to him.

He needed those fangs to sink into his neck again, needed to give Youngjae the nourishment he needed to survive. Their lives were entwined, connected like their bodies and their hearts. “More,” Daehyun begged quietly, “I have more to give, don’t only take half of what you need. Bite me again.”

“Anything you wish, Songbird,” Youngjae replied. He kissed the injured flesh of Daehyun’s neck gently before his fangs sunk in.

Daehyun came again with a scream. The second orgasm was so much more intense than the first as his vision went white and his body went taut. Youngjae harmonized with his high note at the climax of their song, and then both fell after the crescendo. They laid side by side, Youngjae on his stomach and Daehyun on his back. Between them were held hands and panting breaths as each waited for the world to come back into focus. 

“Youngjae?” Daehyun asked in a soft tone. He rolled over to face Youngjae.

Youngjae mirrored him. His hand came to play with Daehyun’s hair as he responded with a breathless, sweet, “yes, Songbird?”

“I… I was wondering… would you, could you turn me? Could I be a vampire one day?”

There was a knowing, excited glint in Youngjae’s eyes. His tone was almost teasing as he asked, “and why would you want to turn into a monster like me, lamb? You’re that keen on being attacked by hunters?” He was joking, from his tone, but there was some excited energy underneath.

“I just think it would be cool,” Daehyun lied. He couldn’t bring himself to admit his feelings until he stood on equal ground with Youngjae.

“That’s it?” Youngjae laughed. Some part of him still faltered, as if confused with how Daehyun had responded. In the moment of awkward silence that followed, Youngjae’s hand fell away from Daehyun’s hair. “Daehyun?”

“That’s it,” Daehyun tried an easy smile, “and nothing more. I think it would be super cool to… to never die, you know? I think… being immortal would be good for me. I’d like it. It would make me worry less about getting sick, too.”

Youngjae’s brow wormed down with worry, but he tried again, “and what will you do with your eternity, precious prey?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’d go see the world, or try to help people. I’d love to combine the two, travelling around the world to save people in crisis.”

“And who would you want to travel the world with?” Youngjae tried. He was getting frustrated, but Daehyun saw it as suspicion.

“Himchan and Jongup, of course.” Daehyun was sure Youngjae was catching on and would reject him. He was desperate to put some distance there, to pretend as if he was not as head-over-heels as he was, so that Youngjae wouldn’t say no before he had the chance.

Youngjae’s lips thinned. He sat up. “That’s really how you want… how you want to say this to me? I thought you were….” There was a word Youngjae could not bring himself to say.

“What do you mean?” Daehyun asked, sitting up as well. When he reached for Youngjae, he only found him flinching away, as if the touch had burned him. “What else could I have meant, Youngjae? I told you, I want you to turn me so I can live forever.”

“I’m your predator, Daehyun, and you’re talking about spending eternity with someone else.”

“But… but once I’m turned, it’s not like you’re going to be my predator anymore, right? This isn’t going to keep going on once I’m like you.”

Youngjae face fell. Tears welled up in his eyes. “What?”

“What?” Daehyun replied, his brow now furrowed in confusion. “When I’m a vampire, why would I still be your prey? That doesn’t make any sense, Youngjae. I thought… I don’t even know how this would work if I wasn’t human. We’ll find you a different prey, with the new humans that Yongguk brought in you have plenty of options.”

“But I don’t want options. I want you,” Youngjae choked out.

“I can’t keep doing this forever, Youngjae. At some point, you’re going to have to turn me and accept that I won’t be your prey anymore.”

Youngjae didn’t answer. He looked down at his hands, then away. Finally, he stood, pulling on his clothes quickly and grabbing a large bag from the closet. He shoved clothes in it thoughtlessly and messily.

“What are you doing?” Daehyun asked.

“You don’t want to be my prey,” Youngjae shot back. He threw more into the bag before storming back in with his toiletries and throwing them in the bag as well. “Then I won’t torture you with my needs any longer. I don’t want to force you to take me as your predator, Daehyun. If this isn’t what you want, I’ll go.”

“That’s not– I didn’t mean immediately, I just meant that after I–”

“That after you were turned you were just going to throw me away? Like I’m not much more than a tool to eternity to you? That all of this meant nothing?” Youngjae fumed. “You said it yourself, you want me to turn you and then you’re going to break us off. You won’t be my prey after that. So what? Was all of this just so I would turn you?”

“No, Youngjae, that’s not what I–” Daehyun jumped out of bed, quickly putting on underwear and following after as Youngjae started walking away with the bag thrown over his shoulder. They paused by the door, where Youngjae threw all but one pair of his shoes into his bag. “Please just stop and talk to me. Why are you so upset about this? Why on Earth would I still be your prey after you turned me? How would that make any sense?”

“It would have made sense to me!” Youngjae cried. “You’re my Songbird and you just– I’m nothing to you, aren’t I?” He paused to storm to the coffee table, grabbing his laptop, it’s charger, and his phone and shoving them in the bag as well.

“You’re really leaving?” Daehyun’s voice broke.

“Did the bite mark even feel good to you?” Youngjae replied, his voice loud and broken, “or were you just faking that? Was it that you heard me as I kept stuttering trying to fight that word back? You just knew you could play into it, make me feel safe enough to say it to you? And then I’d be whipped enough that I’d just give you a forever without me?”

“What do you mean? I–”

“Just tell me it wasn’t pity,” Youngjae begged. Daehyun stared at him a half second too long, mouth agape, and Youngjae stepped into his shoes. “It was then. Well, congrats. You’re a great person. You saved me. You get the ‘Good Person’ of the Year award. But I’m not going to turn you, you selfish asshole. Enjoy your forever without me.”

The door slammed behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments in the form of angry screaming are accepted


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen

His hands shook as he tried again for Youngjae’s phone, but he wasn’t answering. Daehyun was sitting on the couch, the candles blown out and lights turned on as he dialed Youngjae’s number again and pressed the phone to his ear.

Ringing.

Endless ringing.

But he never got Youngjae’s voicemail. Youngjae must have been seeing his calls and rejecting them for that to happen. But why couldn’t he just pick up the phone? Daehyun wasn’t even sure of what had happened beyond the fact that they had gotten into a fight.

A fight because Daehyun had said he wouldn’t be Youngjae’s prey anymore once he was turned.

Daehyun wasn’t sure that was even physically possible. Wouldn’t Youngjae starve if he only drank vampire blood? Daehyun supposed if that wasn’t the case, if it was possible, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Youngjae kept drinking from him, and frankly if the bite mark still felt the way it did once he was turned as it did when he was human, he would like that a lot. It was a good feeling, even beyond the actual pulses of peace and pleasure from the mark itself. Being connected to Youngjae in that way felt good.

But was it physically possible?

Daehyun supposed he should have led with his confusion rather than assuming he knew everything. That was where he went wrong. Making assumptions. Assuming he knew anything about how vampires work. Clearly, he didn’t. He barely understood what Youngjae was saying half the time. If he could just get through to Youngjae, he could explain himself. Just a simple “I was confused. I didn’t realize vampires could feed from other vampires. I’m down to still be your prey after I’m turned if it’s physically possible.”

It would be simple, if only Youngjae would pick up the phone.

And while he lamented, the phone did indeed click and that terrible, incessant ringing finally stopped. “Youngjae, hear me out–” He was cut off.

“Daehyun, you need to stop calling.” The rumbling deep voice could be no one besides Yongguk. He must have picked up the phone for Youngjae. He was keeping his voice low, as if to keep the people around him from hearing the conversation. “Whatever fight you two got into, you’ve really hurt him a lot. Stop calling. Give him time. You two can talk it out when you’re both a little calmer and ready.”

“But it was a huge misunderstanding!”

“Even then,” Yongguk sighed. “Whatever you said… Just give him time. Himchan and I will keep him for the next couple of days. When he’s ready, we’ll bring him back to you.” There was a sort of finality to his voice, something that was hard to argue with.

Daehyun went silent, unsure of what to say.

“He thinks you want to break things off with him, Daehyun. He said you didn’t want to be his prey anymore. You understand how that could be hurtful, right?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Daehyun whined. A couple tears stung at the back of his eyes. “I was confused about what he was asking and how things would work logistically with him feeding from me if I was turned and I–”

“Just take a deep breath. You’ll be able to explain it to him in a couple of days. But for now…”

“Stop calling,” Daehyun replied with a pout. “Take care of him, please? And tell him I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Himchan will text you if there are any major updates, okay? So just don’t call. Let it be. You two need a little bit of time apart.”

“All right. Bye.”

The phone cut out and Daehyun stared down at his lap with a low expression. His knee drummed up and down of its own accord as the silence of the room buzzed around him like a nosy fly, constantly reminding him of its presence. His breathing was too loud, just in the face of silence, but the longer he sat there, staring at his lap and his bouncing knee, the louder it got until it consumed him.

Being Youngjae’s prey clearly meant a lot to him. Daehyun should have realized that. Youngjae spent so much time taking care of him, worrying over him, loving him dearly, and praising him directly as his prey, it was clearly a very meaningful thing to him, even if being Youngjae’s food was just a simple aspect of their complicated relationship to Daehyun.

It was so important to him that both he and Yongguk had described their fight almost as if Daehyun had broken up with Youngjae.

And if he thought about it for long enough, it made sense. Being his only food source, his close friend, and his partner in life, was a big deal. They lived together. They shared a bed. In Youngjae’s own words, Daehyun had been the only reason he hadn’t succeeded in killing himself. This relationship meant a lot, even if it wasn’t a romantic relationship like what Daehyun wanted. 

Maybe, he didn’t need to date Youngjae. Maybe he should’ve just seen the value in being his prey. After all, what would be different if they were dating? They were already as intimate as two people could be – sharing every part of their lives together. They were already expressing love for one another through words and actions. They were already everything to one another. What would the title of ‘boyfriend’ really add to what they already had? And what would they lose because of it? Daehyun’s knee stopped bouncing as he told himself firmly, “it doesn’t matter if we’re dating. Being his prey already involves everything I wanted with him. I already have everything I wanted with him. Had, maybe.”

He picked up his phone again, wanting to call Youngjae just one last time, to try to reach him to explain and apologize, but he knew the call wouldn’t go through. So, he just sat there, staring blankly at the screen as he tried to figure out what he could do.

Before he could conjure up a coherent thought, Jongup was answering the phone with a yawn. “Daehyun? What’s up?”

“I fucked up.” His voice broke.

“Fucked up how?”

“I was being such a dumbass. All I’ve been thinking about for months is dating Youngjae, being Youngjae’s boyfriend, being romantically involved with Youngjae and you know what? You want to know what?”

“You two are already dating?” Jongup said. “Didn’t he ever–”

Daehyun had cut him off. “No, Jongup. But it doesn’t matter! I don’t need to date him, because being his prey and living with him already involves literally everything I wanted! I wanted everything with him and I had it. I had it.”

“But you– wait, had?”

“I fucked up,” Daehyun repeated. “We got into a fight. I was asking him to turn me and he asked if I was going to be his prey after and I said no because I didn’t think it was, like, you know, possible for vampires to feed from other vampires. And then, he got super hurt and upset and he stormed out and her his answering his phone. Yongguk picked up to tell me to stop calling and I just realized how badly I fucked up making him thinking I didn’t want to be anything with him and–” Daehyun’s voice cracked again and he started crying. “I just fucked up so bad.”

“Did he think you were breaking up with him?”

“He thought I was saying I was only his prey until he turned me and then it was over. And I was! Because I didn’t realize I could be his prey once I was turned. I didn’t realize things could work that way – that he could still feed from me.”

“No, Daehyun, prey means–” The door slammed shut on Jongup’s side of the phone line and Jongup went silent for a moment. “You don’t look so good.”

The remark wasn’t made towards Daehyun, but rather towards Junhong, whose voice came grainy through the phone line as Daehyun tried to quiet his tears enough to listen. “Daehyun was using Youngjae this whole time and they basically just broke up. He came running into Yongguk’s place while I was visiting in full on tears saying it was over and we haven’t been able to get him to calm down. I was going crazy watching him cry, I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“It’s a little more complicated that,” replied Jongup. 

“How could it be any more complicated than that? According to Youngjae, Daehyun literally said he wouldn’t be his prey once he was turned. He was just using Youngjae to become a vampire, so that he wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick or something. Listen, I know he’s your friend but he’s an absolute ass–”

“He didn’t know what he was talking about,” Jongup defended.

“Is that him on the phone?”

“Please don’t be a dick to him. He’s already crying.”

“I’m not going to be a dick. I just want to know where he gets off doing that to Youngjae. Finding him when he was at his most vulnerable and building him back up knowing that he was going to leave him the moment–”

“Just, listen. Something really, really dumb just happened but I promise you, Daehyun was not trying to break up with Youngjae the moment he was turned. There’s some major communication error going on here. Trust me. I don’t even want to say what it is because I want them to figure it out and talk about it themselves, but no one needs to be upset here. It’s just a miscommunication.” The line went silent for a couple seconds but Daehyun didn’t know what to say.

“So what do we do?” Junhong asked, and Daehyun breathed a sigh of relief.

“You need to go back to Youngjae. Help him calm down and then convince him that it’s a communication error. Tell him he needs to go back and talk to Daehyun when he’s ready using human words, not your weird vampire dialect. Human words only. Make him practice what he’s going to say so you can make sure he stays in the right dialect.”

“And you’ll go help calm Daehyun down?”

“Yeah. We’ll split up for a couple nights, reconvene once things are better for movies and the usual?”

“Sounds like a plan. Just, promise me he isn’t going to hurt Youngjae again.”

“Trust me,” Jongup said again, “if he had known what was going on in the first place, that fight would’ve never happened. I’ll handle it on his end, and this will never happen again. Okay?” They was a small amount of static over the phone.

“Daehyun?” Jongup asked. “Still there?”

“Yeah,” Daehyun breathed.

“Still crying, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to pack a bag and then I’ll be over in a couple minutes, okay? Take some deep breaths and try to calm down. Everything is going to be okay. I’ll stay with you until Youngjae is ready to come back and talk about what happened.”

“Okay,” Daehyun mumbled. “See you soon.”

“Hang in there. I won’t be long,” Jongup promised. The call cut out. Daehyun felt empty.

The whole apartment felt empty.

The silence screamed in his ears, and pounded around in his head. The world was kind of fuzzy and twirling. He needed to focus on something but he just felt dazed and sick to his stomach. He had really upset Youngjae a lot then, if Junhong had been so angry. He was angry at himself.

What did he need to do before Jongup showed up?

Pants. He need to put on pants. That was thing number one. He wandered back into the bedroom, blowing out candles as he went, and pulled on a pair of jeans. The shirt he picked up next fell to the ground as he felt the stickiness of his body, and then the pants too were laying on the floor as he wandered off to take a shower.

He tried to let himself maintain a daze, to focus only on the actions he was taking at any single moment rather than focus on all of the things that had happened and all of the things he had felt. The drum of the water pounded over the buzzing silence, and he hummed for just a single beat, before remembering the bliss on Youngjae’s face when he talked about the music they made together, and then he lost his voice.

Once he was clean and dry and edging on cold, in the October air with the heat on low to keep the bill down, he wandered back into his room. Pants and a t-shirt. A deep breath. He should throw the sheets in the wash.

Gathering them up, he wandered out to the small balcony of his apartment to put them in the washing machine out there. He peeked over the edge as he did, a fire truck had gone by and caught his attention as noisy things tend to do. But then, something else caught his eye. Something worse. Something he hoped he was seeing wrong. Was it the anxiety? Was it just his head running with things?

Shaggy black hair and NIS jackets.

Two men stood at the foot of his building, barely in sight from where he was standing. They spoke amongst themselves as they leaned close to one another. He couldn’t make out their faces, far too many stories up to see clearly.

Then, as he waited with bated breath and shaking hands, they walked away, to an electronics shop across the street. 

Safe. He told himself. No need for alarm. He stood there on the balcony and watched the shop doors until the fall air began freezing his wet hair, just below freezing that day, and his hands started to hurt from the cold. He stepped back inside, but eyed the shop warily. He closed the curtains, and then turned back to his room.

What was he doing?

The comforter on the bed was folded up in the corner. Youngjae must have removed it to keep it from getting dirty. Daehyun grabbed some sheets from the other room and remade the bed. Jongup was probably staying over, and if so, he was staying in Daehyun’s bed. He really didn’t want to be alone.

What was next?

The candles. Daehyun went around blowing them out and collecting them, putting them all in the bathroom closet on an empty shelf. It was the only space he had for them. He checked under the lid of each one no less than ten times before he was confident enough that none of them were lit. He didn’t want to burn the apartment down.

Next?

The flowers could stay. The lights were on. The bed was clean and made. The candles were gone. He had showered. He was wearing clothes. The apartment was normal. Normal, but quiet. So painfully quiet.

There was no next, nothing left that he could think to do. He started the coffee maker just as an action that could be taken, but it didn’t distract him.

He had really fucked up, hadn’t he? Junhong sounded so angry. It sounded like he had left Youngjae heart broken. He had never heard Junhong be really angry before. Frustrated, yes, but actively cursing someone’s name? No.

Daehyun shuddered as he came over to the living room mirror. He tried not to think as he peered out. The door to the shop swung open and closed, but it was a young woman and a toddler, not the NIS agents. He tried to peer through the windows, but the glare and the angle left him blind to the patrons inside. An elderly man went in as two kids in high school uniforms came out, their book bags slung over their shoulders.

As he stood there by the window watching people come and go from that little shop tears bubbled up in his eyes again, never quite gone from when he had started crying earlier. It was in that mindless way, staring blankly at people living their daily lives, that he began to cry harder than he had earlier that day.

He wanted Youngjae to come back.

He just hoped this was something they could get passed, a fight that would become nothing more than a faint scar in the future.

There were footsteps down the hall. Two sets. The hair on the back of Daehyun’s arms raised. He heard someone down the hall. Another set of footsteps. Then another one, fainter, farther away. Four people in the hallway of his floor.

The footsteps closest to him ended near his apartment and he waited with his breath caught up in his throat for that pounding knock.

The jangle of keys. His neighbors door clicked open. Daehyun’s shoulders slumped. And then the knock came. But it couldn’t be more than one person, right? His neighbor had probably come by at the same time as Jongup. Unlucky timing for his anxiety, but entirely normal in a large apartment building where people came and went often.

Besides, it wasn’t a pounding knock, just a normal rhythm.

Out of habit, though he knew it would be Jongup on the other side, he peeked through the peephole before opening the door, and his breath caught up in his throat at what he saw. He pulled out his phone quickly, mindlessly pulling up the group chat he was in with the others. He wiped away tears hitting the broken surface as he typed out a single, two word message: “code red”.

He opened the door.

“Jung Daehyun–” It was them. 

It was the hunters.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So many things happen all the time a lot
> 
> WARNINGS: there is some violence and some blood in this one. There's also a lot of other shit that happens that can be kinda ehhh for people so be warned, this chapter is intense. I would tell you what specifically the things are but it's highkey gonna ruin the twists if I do, so if you think there might be something you are triggered by in this, message me on [tumblr](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com) and i will tell you what the triggers are. If you have read literally any of my other fics, this will be nothing in comparison. Not even close. Very light and easy for anyone who has read things by me before because I'm categorically the Worst Most of The Time lmao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooo it's the second to last chapter my dudes! after this one, we only have chapter 15 left! Are you ready? Are you excited???
> 
> Leave a comment telling me what you think!!~ I'd love to hear feedback for this chapter^^
> 
> Also, just fair warning, this fic is probably the last fic I'll be writing, at least for a while. I've been working on my first novel since the beginning of the year and I kinda wanna turn my attention to that and other things I can actually publish. Thank you so much for reading up until now. I love you <333

They had stopped short after saying his name. Their tone had started out accusational but quickly fell quiet towards the end of his name. They stood there in the doorway in their fake NIS jackets and wrinkly suits with the harshness gone from their expressions, eyes wide and mouths agape. Jaewon’s face quickly twisted up in concern, but Kibum took longer to adjust.

It took a moment for Daehyun to realize why they were staring at him that way.

His nose was broken and swollen. It had caused two bruises to form under his eyes that looked like black eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt that didn’t hide the bruises on his arms from Youngjae pinning him. The ones around his wrist were especially bad. There were other burns and bruises on his arms from work. He was crying his eyes out.

He realized what he might look like, and the lies he had told them over a year ago.

“Is your boyfriend home?” Jaewon asked. “You’re still seeing the same guy, aren’t you?”

Daehyun withdrew into himself, leaning forward against the end of the open door and looking down and away at the floor. “Jongup went out. He might be back soon. He’s never gone that long after a big fight.” He sniffled. 

“How about you let us in, alright? We’ll wait with you until he comes back. I’m sure you don’t want to be alone right now.” Jaewon said.

“Sure. Umm… I’ll make you guys some coffee, you can wait on the couch.” He wiped a couple of his tears away and started to pull at his t-shirt sleeves as if trying to hide the bruises. Jaewon read the message Daehyun was trying to send well: he wanted a little bit of time to compose himself.

Once they were sat down on the couch, he rushed off to the bedroom first to pull a hoodie over his t-shirt, then he was back out towards the kitchen to make them coffee.

“Why are we just sitting here?” Kibum whispered to Jaewon. “We should be questioning him. We saw Youngjae coming and going from this apartment complex enough times, and this is the second time he’s been linked to that demon.”

“Just wait for him to compose himself. We’ll find out more about the vampire if we come at this with empathy. Besides, I might want to stay until that boyfriend of his shows up. Someone needs to get him out of this situation.”

“What are you doing?” Kibum hissed. “We don’t need to get involved with this.”

“Look at him!” Jaewon whispered back. “If we’re supposed to be protecting people, why not him? Huh? Do we only care about the monster under his bed when there’s clearly a monster in his bed, too? I’m not saying we kill the boyfriend, but someone should at least deck him!”

“He’s a vampire’s pet. Even if some jackass has been giving him what he’s deserved before we got here, he deserves to die as much as that demon spawn. Anyone who helps their kind is a rat.”

“I’d agree if I thought it was him, then fine that boyfriend of his could beat him to a pulp and he’d deserve it, but I don’t think it’s him.”

“What?”

“I don’t think it’s Daehyun feeding that monster. I think it’s the boyfriend. Watch.  When he comes back, I’ll work up a conversation about what happened. He’ll lie about how he got the injuries, but with enough dogging he’ll admit his boyfriend is cheating on him. Maybe with multiple people. He’ll say something about hiding hickeys under bandages.”

“You sure?”

“Trust me, okay? And if I’m wrong, we’ll grill him on where that shitbag vampire is until he breaks and we’ll kill both of them. Let’s just make sure we’re not killing a victim, first.”

“Fine,” Kibum grumbled.

Daehyun returned shortly after with two cups of coffee in his shaky hands. It spilled over the edges of the mugs and he hissed as the hot coffee dripped over his hands. Once he had passed them over to the two men, he ran off to get some paper towels to clean off his hands, the floor, and the mugs before he would finally sit and settle on the armchair to the side of the couch. He faced them at an angle and watched quietly as they drank from the cups.

“Jongup is going to be mad if he knows people came over,” he mumbled quietly. “You’re going to have to leave after he shows up. Unless… unless this time you’re here about him.” He looked down and away. His voice was a little raw and resigned as he stared off into the middle distance to sell his web of lies.

“We might be,” Kibum replied. “We’ve… uncovered a web of sorts, an interconnected group of criminals of which the fugitive we came here to speak to you about last year, Yoo Youngjae, is a member. We have reason to suspect your boyfriend may be involved.”

Jaewon quickly cut it. “But, let’s not get into that right away. You’re clearly dealing with a lot right now and we don’t want to grill you when things are already rough. Could you tell us, off the record, where you got these injuries?”

Daehyun looked at him for just a moment with wide eyes, gulped, and then looked away. “I’m just clumsy.” He was telling the truth. “I fell.”

“Was Jongup there when you fell?”

“It wasn’t his fa– I… It’s… It was my fault.” He said. He pulled down at his sweater sleeves before fiddling with them in a nervous fashion. His eyes went up to the window when a car honked outside. “It was my fault,” he said quieter.

“Could you tell us what your fight with Jongup was about? You said it was a bad one, didn’t you?”

Daehyun pulled up his knees onto the chair and pressed them to his chest. He buried his face in them as he tried to come up with some sort of believable answer. Kibum chimed in before Daehyun could come up with one. “Was it something like cleanliness? One of those simple couple problems? Or was it something deeper?”

Jaewon elbowed him.

“What?” Kibum hissed.

“If you give him something small for him to pretend it was, he might lie to us. He’s clearly trying to save face here. Don’t prime him to lie by giving him any fake reasons why they might fight. It won’t help us.” Jaewon kept his voice low but he was clearly frustrated.

“It’s… yeah it was just something simple and domestic–” Daehyun made his voice crack before faking a sob and burying his face in his knees. He wasn’t sure if he was the best actor, but by all accounts they seemed to believe him. Daehyun had never been fond of lying or pretending things were different than they were, but that changed very little as he bided his time and the hunters drank their coffee.

They stayed silent for several minutes. Their cups were nearly empty by the time he picked up his head from his knees, having finally forced a couple tears to come back and give him a miserable appearance.

“Jongup is cheating on me.”

“Oh no,” Jaewon said, his voice full of fake sympathy. Were they onto him or did they just not care about the relationship he had made up? “Are you sure? How do you know?” He still had a little coffee left, while Kibum gulped down his last bits and put the empty mug on the table.

Daehyun stared blankly at it. “He’s always sneaking out at night, or he won’t come home, or he’ll tell me he’s working late and then stay out until the middle of the night. Half the time he won’t even tell me, he’ll just disappear and leave me to worry he got hit by a car or something. He knows how much I worry but he still– anyway. While he was showering the other day he left his phone out and– and I know it’s wrong but I peeked….”

“That’s fairly normal in relationships like this one. What did you find?”

“One of his newer coworkers kept– really I wouldn’t have looked if it hadn’t kept buzzing but it just kept going on and one and I know it was wrong but– but his coworker Chadol was texting him to ‘ditch his bitchy boyfriend and come have some fun’. He texted a bunch of lewd things too, and some weird stuff.”

“What weird stuff?” Kibum prompted.

Daehyun blinked and shook his head. His brow was furrowed and he rested his chin on his knee. “Something about wanting Jongup to make sure he ate before he came. I think he said it would make him… taste better? Like, I guess, for oral? I don’t know how that works though. I’ve never heard it before and when I looked online I couldn’t find it. I don’t know, maybe I’m just missing something.”

“Does Jongup have any signs on his body that he’s gotten physical with this Chadol guy? You know, scratches, hickeys, a little love bite…?”

“Yeah, all of them. He’s been hiding the hickeys under bandages, he kept telling me he was getting injured at the gym but I saw him pull one off once and there was a hickey underneath. I caught a peek at a little love bite too, it’s small and healed so he’s stopped covering it.” He pouted and pressed his cheek to his knees with his face away from them. “It’s like he’s mocking me for tolerating it.”

Jaewon and Kibum shared and excited look between them and Jaewon mouthed ‘jackpot’. They fistbumped while Daehyun’s face was turned away, but returned to masking their giddyness with fake sympathy when he turned back towards them. “So, was that was what your fight was about?” Jaewon asked.

“I shouldn’t have confronted him. I should have just left; I should have left him a long time ago. But, he knows where I work. He can just show up at any time to grab me and do who knows what. He’s scary when he’s angry. I can’t afford to live on my own, much less move out and quit my job at the same time to get away from him. And… and I love him. He’s so sweet. You’ll see, when he comes back, he’s a sweetheart. He’s only like that when he gets angry….” Daehyun wasn’t a fan of how easy those words came, how after years of Himchan saying those things about Seunghyun it was now so easy for him to mimic it.

“He gets angry often, doesn’t he?” Jaewon asked.

“It’s my fault. I keep messing up and doing dumb stuff. I should know better.”

“Daehyun, your boyfriend is a bad man, not just for the crimes he has likely committed against humanity, but for the way he treats you. I suggest you find a friend to live with as soon as possible, because he won’t be here much longer.” 

Kibum waited until Jaewon had finished talking to pull the photos of Youngjae out again. Daehyun understood them in a way he hadn’t a year prior. After the hunters had come and murdered his whole coven, Youngjae had taken the only action he could think to take: reporting it to the police. Their estate in Jeju had been covered in cameras, and all but two of the pack of hunters had their faces clearly shown. Youngjae had given these tapes to the police and let the justice system work, until most of the men that had murdered his family were put on trial.

He had testified. He had been forced to sit there and watch the video of his family being killed in court. He had stared the men who had killed them in eye as they were sent away for life. He had left the courtroom, his friends, and Jeju as a whole to find peace.

And then he had chosen to die.

Those photos they had were taken at the trial. They were taken of a Youngjae who had recently lost his everything. It hurt Daehyun to see those photos. He didn’t realize he was crying until Jaewon pressed a hand to his knee. 

“You recognize him, don’t you?” Kibum asked.

“That’s Chadol,” Daehyun lied. He continued crying, but not because he was acting and not because his imaginary boyfriend was cheating on him. He was crying because he knew how hurt Youngjae had been for so long, and the full brunt of his actions had finally hit him. He had torn down that happy life Youngjae had finally achieved, that he deserved.

He withdrew into himself, pulling out his phone with the excuse that Jongup might have texted him, and they allowed him as they whispered amongst themselves. Jaewon was gripping his head. Kibum was slurring a little.

The text message he had sent to the group-chat, “code red”, had been viewed by everyone. They had strategized.

“I’ll be there soon,” Jongup had responded, nearly twenty minutes beforehand. Daehyun didn’t realize he had kept them occupied for so long. “I can play scary boyfriend to make them leave again. Just hold on.” Their empty mugs sat on the coffee table and Daehyun eyed them for a moment before watching the two men carefully. He was discrete about it, standing up to pretend to mess around in the kitchen while he stared at them.

“Come here instead,” Junhong had texted. “It’s not safe anymore. You have a bandage on your wrist.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jongup replied.

“Junhong is right,” Yongguk had chimed in. “We’ll show up and disarm them once we know you’re safe. Just come over and we’ll strategize. Daehyun can hold down the fort for a couple minutes, he’s been prepared for how to stall them enough times.”

“Fine,” Jongup texted.

Ten minutes after, another text was sent, this time from Junhong. “Youngjae, where did you go?” At that point, Daehyun had been standing in the kitchen for several minutes, making it a bit over fifteen minutes past when that message had been sent.

“They’re still here, but I’m safe,” Daehyun sent to the chat.

“We can’t find Youngjae,” Yongguk responded.

There were footsteps headed down the hallway. Daehyun’s ears perked up and he knew from the tingle in his bite mark where Youngjae had gone. “I think that’s Jongup. Could I please take a moment with him before you guys interrogate him?” He asked sweetly. At this point, Kibum and Jaewon could manage very little more than a nod.

He managed to make it out right as keys jangled from the other side. He and Youngjae shared a blank look. “I can’t let you in there,” Daehyun whispered, “what if they hurt you?”

“You should be more concerned that I’ll hurt them.” Youngjae’s voice was cold and detached. “After everything they put me through? To show up here when I’m healthy was an act of dumb hubris. I’m going to go in there, Daehyun, and I’m going to make sure they don’t come back.”

It hurt to be called his name. When did Youngjae ever say his name? It was always a pet name, it was always something doting. It hurt.

“Youngjae, please,” he murmured.

“You can’t stop me.” Youngjae had cut him off. He pushed past Daehyun and unlocked the door. His movement was then so fast Daehyun could barely see it, some of the superior speed that Youngjae rarely took advantage of. However, he stopped once he was in front of the two men. His face was twisted up in confusion.

They were both barely upright, just as Daehyun had left them, with drooping eyes and hung open mouths. They were near limp on the couch as Youngjae stared down at them, unable to kill him no matter how much they wished to. Kibum reached for his gun but the action was slow and labored. Jaewon seemed to be nodding off. Daehyun watched all three of them from the door, which he had carefully closed behind him.

“What did you do to them?” Youngjae asked. He pulled the guns away from the men, surprised at how easy it was to escape their protesting grips. He placed them just out of reach on the coffee table and watched as neither Jaewon nor Kibum was able to get to them.

Daehyun let out a solid sob before he could answer. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms around his middle as if protecting himself. “I’m a bad person.”

Youngjae looked from their bumbling, barely conscious state to the empty mugs of coffee on the table and finally to Daehyun. “That little thing of pills you had,” he realized. “You drugged them. They weren’t leftover antibiotics. You bought drugs to knock them out.” Daehyun nodded with a pout. “That’s not something you do normally.” Youngjae said in a soft tone. He came towards Daehyun slowly like he was unsure of what he was doing.

“I was just scared they’d come back and I didn’t know what I could do and–” He didn’t realize how hard he was shaking until he was pulled into Youngjae’s arms. “I couldn’t lose you.” He admitted. His voice was strained and faltering.

He could feel the way Youngjae gulped against him, the soft, pained word that escaped him: “Songbird.”

“I’m so sorry,” Daehyun mumbled. “For all of it, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said, I was just confused and–”

“That’s not going to work on me, Daehyun. You can’t tell me that you were just confused when what you said was what it was. You told me you didn’t want to be my prey, that you only were my prey until I turned you. I’m here for you now, but it’s the last time. I’m not going to stay with someone that doesn’t want to be with me.”

“But I do–”

“Enough.”

Daehyun went quiet for a long moment, and just enjoyed the feeling of being in Youngjae’s arms. He pulled him in a little tighter and tried to send everything he was thinking to Youngjae mentally. “I’m a bad person,” he eventually mumbled. “But I would never use you. I hope that you can see that, that I wouldn’t have done this to them if you weren’t as important to me as you are. That’s not going to excuse any of this. I know.”

“Sometimes we have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons,” Youngjae murmured. “I’m glad I meant enough to you that you would want to save me.”

“You meant every–” A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and suddenly his words were cut off. He pushed Youngjae away and then pulled in front of him right as the gunshot fired.

Daehyun screamed.

Youngjae moved quickly. The gun was out of Jaewon’s hands before Daehyun’s wail had ended, and both guns were in the kitchen before Daehyun fell.

Youngjae caught him, panting. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape as he stared at the blood oozing out of Daehyun’s side. The bullet had hit him on the left side of his abdomen, but not far enough to the side to be safe. It had definitely hit some organs. Daehyun wasn’t going to make it.

“Youngjae–” Daehyun cried.

“Quiet.” Youngjae’s fangs came down. Daehyun could feel it in the bite mark. “Don’t speak.” He bit into his own wrist. His top fangs pierced the skin leaving a bloody line which he held up to Daehyun’s lips. “Drink. That’s it. Songbird, have one last taste of me before I have my last taste of you.”

Daehyun lapped at and sucked at the skin. His vision was going hazy, when Youngjae pulled his wrist away to reopen the wound wider. Again he pressed it to Daehyun’s lips and watched as Daehyun drank his blood. His fingers from his other hand carded through Daehyun’s hair and his eyes flickered back and forth from him to the hunters who were losing consciousness. Youngjae hummed a soft tune and blinked away tears. His breaths were shaky.

Daehyun’s head was growing light.

“Keep drinking,” Youngjae said one last time before he leaned down, his fangs grazing Daehyun’s neck. “It’ll hurt less if I drink you dry, Songbird, but you’ll be hungrier when you wake. Drink now until you can move no longer, then sleep.” He left a kiss on Daehyun’s temple. Another tender kiss pressed over the bite mark before Youngjae bit in. 

Daehyun let out a shaky, pleased breath. The pain coursing through his body faded fast in favor of the pulsing pleasure of Youngjae’s fangs where they were meant to be. His eyes were heavy as he lapped at the blood being pressed into his mouth. They fell shut when he couldn’t fight it any longer. He breathed labored breaths through his nose, but he could no longer feel anything at all. He was floating.

Everything went black.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Songbird, won't you sing for me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter!! It's over!! Please please please leave me a comment with what you thought, good and bad. I'd really appreciate anything, even advice or criticism!!!~~~~~ Thank you so much for reading this far and sticking with me through this journey!
> 
> (My reflection and goodbye letter will be posted at the end notes, this is my last fic!)

The first thing he could remember was the warmth of the room. The air buzzed around him with heat and he could hear electric heaters pittering along. The was a heavy blanket over his body, trapping him in that warm, hazy air in that warm, hazy room. His eyes were closed but his nose twitched.

Something smelled good. Something smelled better than any food he had ever tasted before. The smell wafted around him in that warm air, burning up his senses with hunger. He could feel it in his stomach, the empty pit of nothingness. It smelled so good. It felt as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks. His whole body was thrumming with the appetizing, tantalizing smell not far from him, tempting him to leave his slumber quicker than he was ready too. Yet he stayed cocooned and still.

He couldn’t remember what happened.

“I’m promising you it was a misunderstanding.” He could hear Jongup speaking in the other room. Jongup. He remembered Jongup. The weighted blanket felt a lot like Jongup on top of him all of the times they had cuddled in the past. “When he said he was just confused, he meant it.”

“How can it be a misunderstanding?” He couldn’t quite make out whose voice it was through all the muffling. He could barely hear them at all. “I told you what he said.”

“He doesn’t understand your dialect. It was pretty clear when I talked to him over the phone that he didn’t know what any of those words meant. I promise that if you go in there and ask him what he thinks they mean, you will get answers that are… like as incorrect as possible, okay?” Jongup said. “At least go see him when he wakes up.”

“Why should I?” The faint and muffled voice asked.

Jongup almost sounded angry. “He took a bullet for you!” There was a pause. “Oh. Oh, don’t cry. Come here. Come on. It’s alright. You saved him. He’s been progressing normally, hasn’t he? He might even wake up soon. It’s not your fault, I promise. Still, you know he wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t love you, right? He loves you, Youngjae.”

Youngjae.

The hunters. A gunshot. He gasped. His whole body curled up. He lifted off the bed and clutched his side. His heart pounded in his ears. The air was knocked out of him. His whole body shook as he sat there, wide eyed, confused, and shaken. He panted out shallow breaths as tears came to his eyes.

“He’s awake.” He could hear Youngjae more clearly through the door. He sounded upset. “He made it.” He sounded relieved, too.

Footsteps rushed over to him quickly. “You’re alright.” It was Junhong. A warm hand squeezed his shoulder and then finger ran through his hair. He remembered how both of those things should feel, but this somehow felt like a lot more – like his senses were on fire. His while body was shaking.

He had been shot. That was the last thing he remembered.

Daehyun pulled his hands away from where his wound ought to have been, but there was no pain and no blood. He looked at Junhong with his dazed, confused, and teary eyes and then down at his stomach. He pulled the blanket away and then his shirt up, but there was no wound underneath. Just a small, circular scar met him.

“It’s healed, don’t worry,” Junhong cooed. “It’s the venom, the same way it heals bite wounds. It speeds up healing and prevents infection, just like always. But you were shot, Daehyun. Just licking the wound wouldn’t have been enough. Do you remember?” He didn’t seem to expect Daehyun to be able to respond. “When someone is about to die, there’s about a three in four chance that turning them will save them. It’s worked for both of us now – Yongguk turned me after the hunters got me, just like they got you. You’re a vampire now, just like you wanted. You saved Youngjae’s life, too.”

He remembered Youngjae hovering over him with a frantic, terrified look in his eyes. He remembered a bloody wrist being pressed to his lips and drinking the blood pouring out of it with a racing heart. He remembered Youngjae humming above him, rocking him gently, and trying to hold back tears. And then came the teeth in his neck, that heavenly feeling of Youngjae’s teeth in his neck. His blood had drained and everything had gone black.

“Where is he?” Daehyun’s voice was rough from lack of use. His head was fuzzy and the sweet smell from the other side of the room almost tempted him to not ask. It almost tempted him to give into his hunger and worry about everything else later. Still, before that came the image of Youngjae with fear and tears in his eyes.

“What?” Junhong’s eyebrows raised and his mouth fell open.

“Where is Youngjae?” He had hummed as he held him. He had tried to comfort him in his last moments. He had been there, and been tender, when Daehyun was hurting. Maybe there was reason to hope. Daehyun needed to see him.

“Wha–” Junhong stopped short. “How are you even thinking about him with a human in the room?” Daehyun glanced over to what Junhong had gestured at. 

The source of that delicious smell faced him.

The hunters were both tied up and gagged to poles at the center of the room, which was a large hall in what looked like a traditional house. If he smelled carefully, he could make it past them to find the greenery outside. They weren’t in a city. They had driven out somewhere far from Seoul. Next to them they had pieces of paper. A laptop sat open not too far from them. There was a chair, close to the door, with another laptop shut. He assumed that was where Junhong had been sitting before he had woken up.

But still, he was haunted by the humming. He was haunted by the look in Youngjae’s eyes. “I need him.”

“You need to eat. How are you thinking about anything else other than how you need to eat?” Junhong seemed almost agitated in his confusion. His fingers had stopped running through Daehyun’s hair as he stared him down.

“I need him. Where is he? Please, Junhong.”

Junhong felt like a broken record. He had been turned barely two years prior. He remembered that first awakening’s maddening thirst well. He remembered how he couldn’t think of anything else, not even the wellbeing of his coven, until he had drank his first meal dry. That was what was typical. That was what was expected. “How can you think of anything other than your thirst?”

“It comes second only to him.”

Junhong was frozen. He had a dodgy sort of look about him as his eyes flickered to a door on the other side of the room. “Don’t move.” He instructed quickly. “If you move the slightest bit then I will shout for them to lock the door, and you won’t be able to see him. Understand? Stay still as the dead, or no Youngjae.”

Daehyun froze still obediently, feeling no need even for breath as Junhong crossed the room to the door and knocked before peeking his head out. “He refuses to eat until he sees Youngjae.”

“What?” He heard from the other side. Himchan. The sweet smell came wafting through the door as well, and had it not been for Junhong’s threat, Daehyun might have indulged in the urge to run out there and see what seemed like it would taste so good.

“How?” Yongguk’s voice came through the door. “He shouldn’t be able to think of anything else right now besides the humans–”

“I don’t have an answer to any question you have about this situation, okay? I’m as confused as you are. But he’s refusing to eat until he sees Youngjae, and when I told him to be still as the dead, he did it. There’s only one reason I could see as why and–”

“He told me he didn’t want to be with me,” Youngjae interrupted. He still sounded so hurt, but there was a glimmer of hope carried on the edge of his tone. Daehyun thrummed with so much energy where he was sitting that Junhong felt the need to order him once again to be still. “Fine. Whatever. I guess I’ve got to save him from death twice then.” He had heard Youngjae sound indignant and annoyed before, and that was not it. He almost sounded relieved, but to a degree there was excitement there. Daehyun knew him well enough to suppose what was going on: he was trying to remain detached and level-headed, but he was hopeful. He didn’t want to move on from the pain Daehyun had caused him, but some part of him was growing increasingly sure that the others were right, and Daehyun hadn’t meant what he had said.

The pouding rose in Daehyun’s ears with every footstep Youngjae took towards the door and he could feel the waves of heat pulse through his old bite mark with more neediness than even his thirst. All was second to that need for Youngjae. There seemed to be some maneuvering afoot that prevented him from seeing that which he needed right away. Something about getting the human Himchan and Jongup out of the room before they opened the door more than a crack.

Then he was there and Daehyun was alight. His heart pounded louder than an orchestra of only drums. 

Daehyun couldn’t count the number of emotions that flashed across Youngjae’s expression – frustration, sadness, relief, anger, hope, and more and more. Eventually his face settled to some mixture of hurt, worry, sadness, and hope. He had tears in his eyes and he kept his arms folded, as if trying to put up a hard front. He was trying, still, to remain aloof and unaffected. But somewhere between the bitten lip and teary eyes, Daehyun saw the hope he wanted to latch onto. All could be explained and forgiven if only there was hope.

The sight of him blinded Daehyun. It knocked the breath out of him, and with it escaped mindlessly the word, “Songbird.” It wasn’t of his own will, and he would consider himself barely conscious that he had said it at all beyond simply hearing the word in his own voice. His whole body relaxed and something set back in place inside of him. 

He was rushing. Junhong slammed the door shut and they both moved in front to block him from the human blood on the other side that they thought he was rushing to.

But, no. He filled himself up in Youngjae’s arms and clung to him like his life depended on it. Tears filled his eyes for no reason other than that he knew Youngjae was upset with him, and one or two fell when Youngjae didn’t return his embrace. “Songbird,” he whimpered. The word escaped him without a thought.

“Why are you still pretending?” Youngjae replied. His voice was trembling and weak. He sounded like he might cry. “I turned you. What else could you want from me?”

“You.” Daehyun said the word like a blissful, unaware drunk. He felt it, even if he hadn’t drunk anything. He was lightheaded and light, but some part of him stung at the lack of affection.

Youngjae tried to shrug him off, but Daehyun was stronger as a newborn vampire, and refused to let go. “You already had me,” Youngjae said harshly. “I was already your predator. And then you told me you didn’t want that to continue. What else could you want from me?” There was the hurt that had shown on his face, now there in his voice. He pushed away thoughts of how Daehyun had died for him. He didn’t know what to think.

Daehyun tried to choke down all the words racing to escape him. Normally they would get caught up in his throat life a traffic jam, but being a hungry newborn was something similar to being entirely inebriated, and so the voice in the back of his head had no hold over him nor what he did. “I want to be your boyfriend.”

Youngjae succeeded in pulling back enough to stare at Daehyun with furrowed brows and agape mouth. “You want to be my boyfriend?” He sounded so confused.

“Please, Songbird. I know it’s a longshot after what I said but I only said it because I really love you, romantically, and I don’t want to just be your prey. I want to be your boyfriend. I’m fine with being your prey too, if that’s what you want, but all I want is to be with you. Nothing else will be good enough for me. I want to be yours in every way, not just your prey.” He looked up at Youngjae with wide hopeful eyes.

Youngjae hesitated.

Junhong filled in in that hesitation. “Umm… Ok. Fuck. Daehyun, what did you think predator and prey meant?” He then mumbled as an aside to Youngjae, “you did explain what words mean to him, right? Like, he’s a human and you are his first vampire. You explained what all of the vampire terms meant, didn’t you?”

“I can’t remember,” Youngjae breathed.

“No, it’s fine, I totally know what they mean. I don’t need it explained to me. Me being Youngjae’s prey meant that I was the only human he fed from. That’s why I thought it doesn’t make sense for me to be his prey now that I’m a vampire… unless vampires can drink from other vampires? If that’s a thing, I guess I wouldn’t mind.”

“That’s definitely a thing that you can do, but before we even get into that… what do you think the word Songbird means?” Junhong continued.

“It’s just another pet name, isn’t it?” Youngjae’s hands had found their way to his waist as Daehyun spoke, something that made Daehyun smile and another unwilling ‘Songbird’ escaped him. By then, Youngjae’s eyes had gone wide and his jaw had dropped more than it already had been.

“Okay, bear with me, final question, what did you think the bite mark feeling good meant?” Junhong at this point seemed incredibly frustrated. 

Daehyun chewed his lip. “Does it mean anything? I thought it was just a thing that happened sometimes.”

Junhong looked between him and Youngjae for a long moment before sighing and opening the door a crack, intending to slip through. “Couldn’t you two have just talked to each other about your feelings for like five seconds as adults? Like, Youngjae, why didn’t you tell him what any of that meant, and Daehyun, why didn’t you ask? I’m out. I can’t deal with this.” He slipped through the door and shut it behind him.

“Was I that wrong?” Daehyun asked.

“Daehyun, we’ve been dating for over a year now,” Youngjae replied. “I’ve already been your boyfriend for a full year, since October 9th of last year. Predator and prey are just the vampire words for a romantic relationship that begins when one party is human and the other party is a vampire. That’s why I was kissing you and calling you pet names. It’s ‘cause we were– maybe I guess, still are, if you want– dating.”

Daehyun’s face went blank and then shock slowly wore on it until he looked like a stock photo for confusion. “What?”

“Predator and prey just mean boyfriends. We’ve been dating this whole time.”

“What?” Daehyun said a lot louder.

“I literally told you ‘I love you’ nearly everyday for months! And you replied with the same! I’m as confused as you are right now!” Youngjae’s voice got louder with each word. When he finished, he took a deep breath, and mumbled. “I guess I neglected to tell you what those words meant. I’m sorry.”

“I probably should have asked,” Daehyun agreed. “So what does Songbird mean and why do I keep saying it?”

“It means ‘soulmate’.” Youngjae replied. “The story as we know it is that way back when, a witch cursed a demon to fall for a human. To be clear, we don’t have evidence of witches or demons existing, this is just the story we know. The demon was so madly in love with the human that it wanted to mate as demons to, by trading blood. The human’s blood called out it like a songbird for its mate, and the human felt the same. As they drank from each other they became intoxicated and addicted to one another, their blood singing for one another like songbirds, until they were both half one and half the other – the first vampires.”

“That’s a very intense story,” Daehyun said. “So it means my blood sings to you?”

“Songbirds are we, love. Your blood sings for me to bite into you, to share our lives. The word means ‘soulmate’, and when we say it, it carries that meaning. Even if we can’t control how or when or why we say it, if we feel compelled to, then so it is.”

“I’m your soulmate?”

“Did the bite mark really feel good?” Youngjae’s fingers grazed over the mark as he spoke and Daehyun’s eyes fell shut. All of his senses were so loud from his newborn state, the feeling of Youngjae’s actually touching the mark felt heavenly.

“So good,” he breathed. “Does that mean something?”

“It means you’re almost definitely my soulmate. It’s the feeling of the mark calling out to its match, singing like a songbird on its own. It’s happened a couple times with people that were meant to be best friends for eternity, but generally, usually, it’s a strong romantic soulmate connection. That’s why when you told me about it, I was so happy. I wasn’t quite there yet, myself, but I knew I was heading in that direction, that you would likely turn out to be my Songbird, and it was nice to know you felt the same.”

“I still feel the same,” Daehyun replied. “Do you want to hear something very stupid?”

“How stupid? On a scale of 1 to ‘I didn’t want to kiss you because I thought you’d be scandalized to kiss someone out of wedlock’?”

“About the same level as ‘I didn’t think to tell my human boyfriend what any of the words in my weird dialect meant so he didn’t know we were dating’.”

Youngjae laughed. “So very stupid then. What is it?”

“I only wanted you to turn me because I thought the reason why you hadn’t asked me out was that I was human. I was trying to become a vampire so you’d date me. Now it turns out the reason why you didn’t ask me out was because we were already dating.”

“So basically you’re both dumb,” Junhong shouted from the other room.

“We are both dumb,” Daehyun agreed softly.

Youngjae laughed. “I suppose we are, Songbird. But… if you’ll humor me now on making sure we are finally clear with one another, do you want to be my boyfriend? Can we keep being in a relationship together, and forget all of this ever happened?”

“Yeah, I’d like that a lot.” They shared a warm smile between them, and then a warm kiss. “Could you still feed from me? It still feels good when you’re near the mark.”

“I can, love. When you drink, you’re draining glucose-rich blood from someone’s veins. As you digest, your blood, although composed differently, still carries that glucose. If you drink twice what you need, then I can drink from you and we’ll both be fine. It’s not that uncommon for pairs like ourselves. Would you like that, Songbird?”

“So much, precious predator.”

“Then so shall it be, precious prey.” It wa silent for a moment that buzzed brightly between them. “You should eat, lamb. Your meal awaits you, and I’m amazed you lasted this long.” Youngjae’s fingers ran through his hair.

“Do I really have to kill someone?”

“Aye, my love, aye. We’ve listed all of the terrible things they’ve done the sheets next to them, you can pick either and you’ll be kill a man that’s killed children for nothing at all. We don’t even feed from children, so there’s no excuse. If you need more to fuel you, that open laptop has the security footage from our coven of them killing my family. I think in that way, you are saving lives by ending one of them.”

“And the other?”

“For when we turn Jongup.”

Daehyun had a dodgy and uncomfortable look about him. His eyes were teary and he was shaking a bit. “Can you come with me?” He begged softly. I don’t think I can do this alone.” He pressed his face into Youngjae’s neck.

“Of course, love. I’m here to spend eternity with you, if you’d like that.”

“More than anything.”

 

Daehyun closed his eyes and settled more into Youngjae’s warm embrace. Cold had come and passed, and spring bloomed again outside their window. It was not yet too warm to stay huddled together in the sweet March air, with a couch blanket thrown over the two of them as they laid quietly with one another.

Youngjae was snoring softly when a sudden fit overtook him. He shook and shuddered against Daehyun in a violent and unsettled way. His whole body was thrumming with whatever dream was causing him such distress and Daehyun, softly, nudged him awake.

“Songbird?” He called lovingly. He pressed kisses to Youngjae’s cheeks and nudged him awake.

Youngjae jumped awake, and stared at Daehyun with wide and terrified eyes. Daehyun nuzzled him and murmured, “it was just a dream, lion. Everything is fine. It was only a dream.” His fingers ran up and down Youngjae’s side.

“As much a dream as reality, lamb. It was the usual nightmare.”

“You dreamed of me getting shot again?”

“Of cradling you in my arms as you bled out, of us ending on two sour notes to never find this happiness. Love, there will never be a day that I recover from this. To hold you dying in my arms like that haunts me. It has haunted me since that day. You may ask anyone, I did not sleep nor eat for they entirety of your transformation. I didn’t leave your side until you began to stir.”

“I would have prefered waking up to you,” Daehyun replied gently. 

“In that month, our family was so fearful. There was seldom a moment where one wouldn’t be by my side. They tried to coax me to eat or sleep but I couldn’t with this nightmare haunting me, stronger then. Will I ever escape this memory?”

“I don’t know. But I’m here. I’m alive. You saved me, and now we don’t have to worry about that ever again. I promise Youngjae, I’m right here with you, no matter how many nightmares you have. We both made it.”

Youngjae’s fingers carded through his hair absentmindedly and Daehyun tried to fight down the buzz it gave him.

“I never did thank you,” Youngjae said softly, his voice caught up in his throat. “You saved my life that day. Despite everything, you were willing to die for me. I feel as though, as much as I was stubborn, knowing that was something I could not reconcile.”

“Of course I did,” Daehyun hummed. “I would die for you any day, Youngjae, easily. You’re my whole world.”

“And you, mine, love. Which is why, if you ever try to die for me again, I shall lose my mind. I can’t lose you. And…” He hesitated, though his fingers kept up a slow and steady rhythm combing through Daehyun’s hair. “I hope you know that I would do the same for you, precious prey. Had I noticed before you, the situation would be different.”

“It would have been worse.”

Before Youngjae could object, Daehyun caught him up in a slow, careful kiss. He pressed down over him, and kissed him with soft pressure into the couch. He could feel what was stirring in Youngjae before their positions were switched, and Youngjae let go of the thread as he became caught up in the moment.

His eyebrow quirked up as he stared down at Daehyun, “Songbird, won’t you sing for me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey please read the reflection [here](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com/post/183807039035/songbird-reflection) if you wanna hear my thoughts before or after giving me your thoughts!~  
> I also have an abbreviated form [here](http://brainboxy.tumblr.com/post/183807373590/saying-goodbye-to-fanfiction) that is just the goodbye letter as this is my last fanfic, at least for a while.
> 
> Thank you again so much for reading and staying with me this long. I'd love it if you left a comment with any of your final thoughts, and I'll catch you again, somewhere, somehow <333 Bye loves<3333


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